Schnake Fitness

Activate your Central Nervous System before you Lift

Ideally the end of your warm up should have a fast and explosive movement that’s similar to a pattern your training that day. Here’s what I did yesterday before and in between sets of incline barbell press. This simple split stance med ball chest pass works great to help me recruit more muscle fibers for the bench press. I’m priming my body to move with maximal force. Squat jumps before heavy squats work excellent as well. The goal is more motor units firing fast and together. Increasing rate of force development for better performance and strength.

Get Out of the Sagittal Plane

Enter the lateral lunge anti-rotation press. In this move you’re challenging the frontal and transverse planes, as well as the sagittal plane. Step into the lateral lunge working the inner thigh and glutes. Make sure you push the hips back as your foot makes contact with the floor. As you press the weight out avoid any tendency to twist towards the origin of the resistance. Hold the press, feeling your obliques stabilize your torso. As you push back towards the center drive your outside knee up and balance. Keeping the tension thru your core. Then repeat. Shoot for 10 reps per side.

Core Stability

The core should be trained in a way that challenges the body’s pillar. Meaning everything between the hips and shoulders. The ball plank knee drive and single-leg ball plank rollout are great exercises that require intra-abdominal tension as the limbs move. Your focus is on preventing the lower spine from extending/arching or rotating/twisting throughout each movement.

Exercise Cues:
1. Push the ribs down and tuck the pelvis under by squeezing your abs and glutes together.
2. Keep the shoulder blades neutral. They shouldn’t wing apart or retract.
3. Recheck the pelvis and low back throughout the set. It’s very common to start in a good/neutral position and then lose your pelvic tuck. Simply reset the pelvis and then continue.

Start with a ball plank for a minute hold with a solid pelvic tuck. Once you can do that then try the leg drive for 10/leg. Finally, progress to the single-leg rollout for 6-10/leg.

Slant Board Bulgarian Split Squats

This one is great if you’re looking at building the quads. The angle of the board allows more of the weight to be distributed on the thighs. As if Bulgarian split squats weren’t hard enough! Remember, this is used to target the quads more so stay tall with your torso and it’s ok if your knee travels forward as long as you maintain heel contact. Shoot for 10-12 reps/leg and stay soft on your back leg.

Do you get elbow pain on your upper body pulling exercises? Usually this happens when you don’t move the shoulder blades properly on the rib cage. Overworking the biceps and brachialis. Instead, for your horizontal pulls, use the mid and lower traps to position the scapula back and don’t finish with your elbow too far behind your torso. Doing so will save your elbows and shoulders.

For your vertical pulls, initiate the movement by using the lower traps to drive the shoulder blades down then use the lats to drive the elbows down. Free your shoulder blades up before the workout with 1-2 minutes of foam rolling.

TRX Anti-Extension and Anti-Rotation Exercises

Here are 3 simple exercises that will strengthen your ability to resist twisting and arching forces on the spine.

1. TRX Fallout
Lengthen the TRX straps all the way and start with your feet shoulder width apart on your toes. The goal here is to prevent your low back from arching and hips from sagging.
Tuck your pelvis under and maintain a neutral spine. As you move your arms out squeeze your glutes and abs hard. This is an anti-extension exercise. Shoot for 10-12 reps.

2. TRX Flutter
The straps should be lengthened all the way. Start in the same position as the fallout with feet shoulder width apart and tuck your pelvis under once again. This time only go out with 1 arm at a time. Now you’re challenging rotation on the spine. Resist the tendency to twist as your arm moves away from your body. Try 10-12 per arm.

3. TRX Flutter/Fallout Combo

Start with the same set up and now combine the two movements. Move 1 arm out at a time and then move both out together. After a few reps your abs and obliques should be burning. Shoot for 8-12 reps for each.