Failure is a big topic in the weight lifting world these days. When you鈥檙e doing an exercise, do you need to push each set to the point that you literally 肠补苍鈥檛 complete one more rep? Old-school practical wisdom says yes. More recent scientific studies have suggested that training to failure isn鈥檛 necessary, and might actually be counterproductive because it takes such a big toll on both your muscles and your mind.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, according to a in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise鈥攂ut the results lean toward the idea that failure isn鈥檛 necessary for most of us. The study finds that getting close to failure produces strength gains that are similar to going all the way. That said, training to failure does build a little more muscle mass at some locations. The results of the study also offer some useful clues for those of us seeking the biggest muscle gains from the least amount of time and effort in the gym鈥攏ot because we鈥檙e lazy, I hasten to add, but because we want to spend that time and effort in other ways.

Brad Schoenfeld and his colleagues at City University of New York (CUNY) Lehman College put 42 participants鈥�34 men and 8 women鈥攖hrough an eight-week full-body training program. One group was assigned to complete all their sets to failure while the other was instructed to always stop short of failure. The volunteers were all experienced lifters who had been hitting the gym at least three times a week for more than a year, which means there were no easy gains to be had. And the experimental lifting protocol called for just two workouts a week, with each workout consisting of just one set of nine different exercises. In total, each workout took about half an hour.

This idea of short, single-set workouts isn鈥檛 radical or new. Back in the 1970s, Arthur Jones, the inventor of Nautilus exercise machines, an approach that relied exclusively on single sets to failure. The problem is that pushing to true failure is no joke. It takes a lot of mental focus, and it also takes more time to recover. If your primary interest is another sport like running, you don鈥檛 necessarily want your legs to feel like lead the day after a strength workout. So it would be nice if it were possible to get most of the benefits of a hard workout while stopping short of true failure.

To test that theory, the approach Schoenfeld and his colleagues used is called 鈥渞epetitions in reserve.鈥� The subjects in the non-failure group were instructed to continue each set until they felt they had two repetitions in reserve, meaning that they would be able to squeeze out two more complete reps before failing on the subsequent one. It seems like a much more humane way to train鈥攁nd it also turned out to be fairly effective.

The most surprising result of the study is that both groups got measurably bigger and stronger even though they were working out less often than they were before the study period. That fits with a bunch of previous research on the 鈥�minimum effective dose鈥� for strength training. It doesn鈥檛 mean that half an hour, twice a week is sufficient to maximize your gains. But it does mean that those of us for whom strength training is mostly a means to some other end (like staying healthy, avoiding injury, or being able to carry a heavy pack) can make progress with a relatively modest investment of time.

As far as the efficacy of training to failure goes, there were a whole bunch of different outcomes in the study. The simplest were one-rep max in the bench press and squat, as measures of upper and lower body strength. To test explosive power, the researchers used a countermovement jump (CMJ), which simply involves squatting down then leaping as high as possible in a single motion. To test muscular endurance, they had the subjects complete as many reps as possible (AMRAP) on a leg-extension machine lifting 60 percent of their body weight.

The four tests of strength (bench press, squat, CMJ, and AMRAP) are at the bottom. The solid vertical line at 0.0 corresponds to no change after eight weeks of training. Both bench press and squat increased, with no significant difference between groups. For example, max squat increased by 13.2 percent on average in the failure group and 12.4 percent in the reps-in-reserve group. Same with muscular endurance (AMRAP). Power (CMJ), on the other hand, increased more in the group that trained to failure.

The picture was different for muscle size, which is shown in the upper part of the graph above. Researchers used ultrasound to measure various points along the mid and lateral quadriceps (MQ and LQ on the graph) as well as the biceps and triceps. In most (but not all) cases, training to failure produced bigger gains in mass鈥攚hich might be ideal if you鈥檙e working out for aesthetic reasons, but not necessarily if you鈥檙e training for a weight-to-strength ratio sport like cycling or climbing.

There鈥檚 a key caveat here, which is that estimating reps in reserve is an inexact art. To check how inexact it was, the researchers sometimes asked their subjects to keep going after they鈥檇 estimated they had two reps left. The estimates were fairly good and got better over the course of the eight-week study. But these were experienced lifters who had presumably experienced true failure many times before. For newbies, , it鈥檚 probably a good idea to do at least some training to failure so that you know what it feels like. Then, once you have a good internal benchmark, switch to a reps-in-reserve approach.

In some ways, this line of research reminds me of the current debate in the endurance world about Norwegian double-threshold training. The underlying premise of the Norwegian method is that hero workouts that leave you crumpled by the side of the track are counterproductive. Better to push hard enough to stimulate adaptation but not so hard that you 肠补苍鈥檛 recover for the next workout. Those who hope to win bodybuilding competitions will undoubtedly鈥攁nd wisely鈥攌eep lifting to failure. On the other hand, for those who want muscle and strength but care more deeply about tomorrow鈥檚 run, keeping a rep or two in reserve sounds like a great plan.

For more Sweat Science, join me on and , sign up for the , and check out my new book .

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As an endurance athlete, I spent the better part of my twenties training for and running ultramarathons. My body was resilient, productively absorbing 60- to 100-mile training weeks and races just as long, and I thought that would continue indefinitely.

Then, over the course of nine months, I developed intermittent but often excruciating sciatica, nerve pain that originates in the lower back and radiates down the leg, and eventually, as a result of changing my running gait to compensate for this pain, a torn hip labrum. I expected rest鈥攖he do-nothing, on-the-couch type rest鈥攖o eventually heal me, but the pain persisted. I saw massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, bone and joint specialists, and nerve doctors. No one had a clear answer and no treatment worked.

It was at this vulnerable moment, in 2020, that I discovered the Knees Over Toes Guy. Ben Patrick, a then 30-year-old based in Clearwater, Florida, posted videos of himself on Instagram performing scroll-stopping feats of circus athleticism without any apparent discomfort: springing from a stationary deep squat up to dunk a basketball; where, from a standing position, he drops his knees out forward to touch the ground. These exercises put a remarkable amount of pressure on very vulnerable joints.

In nearly every video, Patrick shares that he has had three knee surgeries, and doctors told him he would never be able to squat or play basketball without pain again. But through an unconventional鈥攁nd some might say dangerous鈥攕trength training protocol, Patrick was not only able to effectively eliminate his pain, but he says he was able to increase his speed and vertical jump to well beyond his youthful PRs. His message was that anyone can achieve that same ability and resilience. But in order to do so, you鈥檇 have to forget most everything you鈥檝e been told about strength training.

The internet is rife with fitness hucksters and overpriced, overcomplicated training plans, but Patrick seemed different. As I read the hundreds of comments under his videos, I was struck by how universally positive everyone was, with sincere-seeming testimonials for his online program, gratitude for introducing them to these unconventional movements, and encouragement towards users who shared their stories of chronic pain.听I was also impressed by the numerous physical therapists . Desperate to regain autonomy over my athleticism, I decided to give his exercises a try.

Over the last four years, Patrick has exploded in popularity, going from a trainer and gym owner to an online fitness mega-personality with 2.4 million Instagram followers. Patrick, who declined to speak with us for this article, has shared his origin story on many podcasts, including the mega-popular Joe Rogan Experience, which has 14.5 million followers on Spotify and 17.6 million on YouTube.

As an obsessive youth basketball player, his passion for the sport and penchant for grueling drills (he would frequently perform 1,000 daily layups) led to painful, fragile knees. His teammates nicknamed him Old Man. After Patrick underwent those three knee surgeries鈥攖he first while he was still a teenager鈥攈e discovered the late, famed Canadian strength coach Charles Poliquin, who preached a style of strength training where each rep is taken to its stretched end range. The priority is not just the amount of weight you can lift, but the body’s ability to move into deeper positions while doing so. (Poliquin was noted for his Seussian soundbite: 鈥淪trength is gained in the range it is trained.鈥�)

Patrick adopted Poliquin鈥檚 training techniques and not only eliminated his chronic knee pain, he says, but began to redevelop his athleticism. At age 23, he was offered a full-ride scholarship to play D1 basketball at Eastern Florida State College. Now, as a trainer, he proselytizes this training philosophy through his unsubtly named app and online coaching business, Athletic Truth Group.

Part of Patrick鈥檚 success can be attributed to his origin story and his social media savvy: his videos are short, attention grabbing, and feature practical training advice. With the bracing sincerity of a youth camp counselor, he talks directly to the camera, appearing trustworthy and capable. But the other part is that this style of training鈥攚hich Poliquin pioneered and Patrick champions鈥攊s, by historic standards, radical.

If you have ever spent time in a weight room, you鈥檝e likely been warned that your knees should never go past your toes in a squat. Instead, you should push your butt backwards and stop when the upper and lower leg form a 90-degree angle. Failing to do so will put too much pressure on your knee and cause injury.

This is only half true. Squatting with your knees over your toes does put pressure on the joint, but that pressure may actually help you avoid injury.

鈥淭endons, cartilage, ligaments鈥攁ll those things will toughen up to load,鈥� says Erik Meira, a physical therapist and rehab specialist based in Portland, Oregon, who works with NBA and NFL players. For most athletes, especially those in endurance sports, injuries occur in the connective tissues of the joints. Tendons, while quite different in composition than muscles, still operate under the same principle: to get them stronger, you must use them in a mildly stressful manner, then back off and let them recover.

鈥淜nees over toes is something that has been vilified for a long time as causing pain to the front of the knee,鈥� says Meira. 鈥淭he reality is it will cause pain if you鈥檙e not conditioned to take that kind of load. But the best way to condition yourself to that kind of load is to get used to positions like that.鈥�

Patrick has taken this philosophy鈥攖hat bending your knees under progressive load will make them healthy and strong鈥攁nd applied it to other vulnerable parts of the body including the ankles, hips, lower back, shoulders, and elbows. In a way, Patrick’s protocol could be seen as a gym routine structured entirely around proactive physical therapy: he identifies problem areas and develops strength and range of motion in the local musculature and connective tissue.

It is a tremendously appealing proposition to many endurance athletes, who are traditionally averse to the gym. Here is a style of strength training that doesn鈥檛 prioritize muscle mass, is singularly focused on avoiding pain, and will allow you to fully express yourself physically outside of the gym.

In 2020, I was one of many impressionable scrollers transfixed by Patrick and his message. Without much to lose, I dedicated myself to 16 weeks of his program through the app. The first cycle, a full-body general protocol called Zero, was easy. I did repetitive, progressive bodyweight exercises鈥攕ome familiar, some novel鈥攖o strengthen mind-muscle connections and expose my joints to new movement patterns. Then, four weeks later, came Dense, where you take these same and other similar exercises, add weight, and perform many sets to condition your joints through repetition under manageable load. Four weeks after that, I moved on to a back-specific training program.

The most significant movement for me in this block was the , which you perform on a forward-angled, hip-high bench that allows you to hinge forward from the hips and directly strengthen the lower back muscles. This was terrifying, as I thought putting my injured back in that exposed position would only hurt it further. But this is precisely what this program is trying to teach: safely training in a vulnerable position creates resilience in that position.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjTz7R8NkJx/

鈥淭he most important part of rehabilitation is graded exposure,鈥� says Mike Istraetel, the popular online fitness commentator who holds a doctorate in exercise science. 鈥淵ou want a little bit of irritation, then back off and heal up鈥� The biggest mistake people make in a gym is assuming a degree of fragility to their body.鈥�

And while Patrick emphasizes the importance of developing strength in tendons themselves, there鈥檚 also another factor at work. 鈥淭endons take up to nine months, if not more, of consistently loading to heal and grow stronger,鈥� says Matt Klein, a rehabilitation and movement science professor at George Fox University. 鈥淏ut patients can have an acute decrease in pain [when they first start training the injured joint] and that鈥檚 not because the tendon has changed. That鈥檚 because their perception of pain鈥攁 fear response鈥攈as changed.鈥�

Meira explains that fear activates our nervous system and sends us into a dysfunctional 鈥減rotective mode.鈥澨� 鈥淲e see this a lot with low back pain,鈥� Meira says. 鈥淎n individual starts to fear taking load and their back gets weaker. Then they 肠补苍鈥檛 take more load, then they fear it more, and they end up in a downward spiral where their back is made out of glass.鈥�

With this mindset, I performed small reps at first, barely leaning forward a few inches, then the next time I went a little deeper, and so on until months later, I was doing 20 full range reps. Eventually I started holding a weight to my chest as I leaned forward, taxing my low back further. And an amazing thing happened: my sciatica went away. Gone, vanished. The insidious nerve pain that for years鈥攍iterally years鈥擨 tried to roll, massage, stretch, and rest away, finally disappeared. All it needed, it turned out, was to get stronger.

鈥淭he biggest mistake I see with athletes is resting for wellness,鈥� says Meira. 鈥淟et鈥檚 say the front of my knee gets sensitive when I run. I think I鈥檓 going to stop putting any load on it and let that heal. Then once it heals I鈥檒l go back to what I鈥檓 doing. But when I鈥檓 resting it, the front of that knee isn’t getting any stimulus, so it鈥檚 not learning to take load. It鈥檚 being de-conditioned to load. Being overprotective is often what gives us issues.鈥� This is ultimately Patrick鈥檚 message: to heal your body, you must use your body.

鈥淭en years ago we still had a postural fear model: you should not put your knees over your toes because that鈥檚 going to cause you knee pain; you should not slouch because that鈥檚 going to cause you neck pain,鈥� says Klein. 鈥淭he current evidence suggests that the perfect posture is the one you鈥檙e in for the least amount of time. Move. People are going to be slumped forward and extended and everything in between. Your body is meant to move in these ways. If your body is having trouble in a position, train in that position more.鈥�

As I progressed through the program, it became evident that there are only about two dozen total exercises that Patrick repeatedly prescribes. If you’ve never performed these movements, the app鈥攚hich coaches you through proper form鈥攊s invaluable. The back extension machine was revelatory for me and got me out of pain and back to the sport I love.

But as I rebuilt my running body and tried to progress deeper into his program, I ran up against his one-size-fits-most approach, an unfortunate and necessary limitation of mass-marketed fitness programs. For instance, deadlifts, which Ben prescribes, still hurt my back no matter how gentle or light I went.

No program will serve as the answer to everything, says Klein. 鈥淚 think [Patrick] is helping a lot of people,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I also think it can hurt a lot of people.” Klein points out that athletes should only try these training protocols after taking the time to pursue an accurate diagnosis with doctors and physical therapists鈥攖o ensure they’re treating the right thing.

After two years, I stopped following Patrick鈥檚 program through his app, but his philosophies have fundamentally changed how I think about exercise. Now, four years since I began his protocol, running is still my priority, but I only run four days a week instead of six. Strength training two to three times a week is non-negotiable. Each session is full-body and joint-focused, and at least half of the exercises I perform are ones I learned through his program. I haven鈥檛 gone a week without a back extension in two years. But the most important thing the Knees Over Toes Guy has taught me is as simple and radical as this: to keep athletically progressing and doing what you love into your thirties and beyond, you have to get strong. Spending time in the gym is a real-time fight against aging.

Despite the reduction in my running volume, I鈥檓 still getting faster, winning races, and setting PRs. But the thing I鈥檓 most proud of: I鈥檓 doing it all without pain.

The Knees Over Toes Philosophy

Strength Train

If you are injury-prone, aging, or looking to maximize your body鈥檚 potential, you MUST strength train. Full stop. Two or three times a week is ideal, but once a week is better than nothing. Perhaps this is obvious, but it bears repeating to strength-shy endurance athletes.

Measurably Strengthen Vulnerable Areas

Identify the muscles that support your body鈥檚 most vulnerable areas and train them unyieldingly. For ankles, this means targeting your calves (encompassing both the soleus and gastrocnemius) and tibialis anterior, the oft-ignored muscle on the front of the lower leg. For knees, it鈥檚 mainly quads and hamstrings. And for hips and back, well, it鈥檚 your hip flexors and back muscles. Do this in a manner that you can measure, such as weight lifted or reps completed, and work to improve those metrics. This is in contrast to many other runners鈥� strength programs, where you鈥檒l likely find complex kettlebell swinging workouts, yogic core stability routines, or resistance band 鈥渁ctivation鈥� drills. There鈥檚 nothing inherently bad about these exercises, but they fail to give you a way to measure their progress. They are also inefficient at genuinely strengthening the muscles and tendons that do the most for you.

Build Balance

Nearly everyone has practiced squatting. But when was the last time you did the opposite鈥搕hat is, lifted weight up off the ground with your legs instead of lowering weight toward the ground? Over time, certain exercises have become popular while their counterbalancing movements have not. Most athletes train their calves but not their tibialis anterior; their squat but not their hip flexors; their abs but not their lower back. To be a high-performing pain-free athlete, you must train both sides of the body, and both sides of any joint.

Regress

If pain pops up, as it is bound to, do not stop training that area. Instead, regress the movement (e.g. less weight, smaller range of motion, and/or fewer reps) to the point where you feel no pain. But do not cease to use that area of the body entirely. Pain is bad and you should never work through pain鈥攂ut motion is lotion.

Length Through Strength

Static stretching is not the panacea for health that it was once thought to be. However, the mobility (i.e. range of motion) of your joints and muscles is incredibly important and is correlated with healthier tissue. So how do we reconcile those two truths? We work to lengthen while strengthening. This means that for every exercise, you should be feeling a stretch at the top or bottom of the movement, and you should perform every exercise with the greatest bend in the targeted joint that you can achieve without pain. (Often, this means starting by lifting lighter weights.)

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For the past two summers, TikToks of Paul Mescal鈥檚 training regimen for Ridley Scott鈥檚 Gladiator II have gone viral. Mescal, an Irish actor known for his breakout role in Hulu鈥檚 adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel Normal People, looks ripped. , which has over 2 million views, Mescal does continuous upright rows with dumbbells for over 20 seconds. I 肠补苍鈥檛 discern the weight he鈥檚 holding, but I can see from his strained听face and measured breathing that it isn鈥檛 light.

5 stars

I have to be honest, though, when the internet started salivating over Mescal鈥檚 physique, I wondered, is that鈥攁t all鈥攚hat gladiators looked like? What do we actually know about gladiators鈥� diet, exercise, and appearance? Frankly, it all seems ripe for some real Hollywood inaccuracy.

To answer my questions, I talked to Alexander Mariotti, a.k.a 鈥�.鈥� Mariotti, who has been a historical consultant on numerous films and television series, including Gladiator II, also lives a bit like a gladiator, so he is a wealth of information on my Paul Mescal-focused queries and听the gladiator diet, exercise, and philosophy in a much broader sense.

OUTSIDE: We鈥檝e all seen the videos of Paul Mescal working out to play Lucius in Gladiator II. Does his physique align with what we know about real gladiators?
MARIOTTI: Well, [Mescal鈥檚 body] is built for a different reason. It’s a physique built for a short period of time and not to be an enduring athlete. So, the aesthetic is important for the movie, but it doesn’t actually have to perform. The Romans believed, above all, that the body should be functional. And certainly, I think for people like Mescal when you’re training, there is a level of functionality, too, because he’s got to perform all those scenes.

So the Romans weren鈥檛 into how fit they looked?
There鈥檚 a very interesting break in culture between the Romans and the Greeks (after the Romans conquered the Greeks), where the Greeks became obsessed with diets, and they wanted to look like statues (). If you look at modern gym culture, it’s very much the same. You’ve got some people who aesthetically look great, but they can’t do anything. They’re physically perfect, but they can’t run, can’t lift, can’t play. I see that in our culture as well, with what the Romans warned about: excessive obsession with the “look.”

Work Out Like a Gladiator

So, what do we actually know about how gladiators trained? Is there such a thing as a 鈥済ladiator workout?鈥�
I can give you a very good idea, because I use it, and I’ve used it now for probably 15 years. It’s a system called the Tetrad. It’s a four-day split, and it was originally devised by Greek trainers for the Olympics. But it was such a good system that it made its way into the Roman army.

The way it works is that the first day is a preparatory day. The second day they called 鈥渁n inescapable test of one’s limits.鈥� The third day is rest, because they believe that rest and recovery are very important. And the fourth day is a skills day.

What might using the Tetrad gladiator training system look like for a modern person?
Day 1: On the preparatory day, I tend to do rowing. Nothing’s more ancient than being in a galley on a ship. I’ll do maybe 2,000 meters of rowing and then put in something else aerobic, like a short circuit, but nothing that’s going to exhaust me.

Day 2: The next day is when I do a full workout. The Romans had medicine balls, so you can use a kettlebell, medicine balls, circuits, weights, whatever. But the point is to test the limits of your body, to do more than you can do, to do as much as you can do.

Day 3: The third day you rest; that鈥檚 very important.

Day 4: The fourth day is skills. And skills, for me, is boxing training. So, I’ll do circuits on boxing, which are very similar to the movements they used in gladiator fighting.

Eat Like a Gladiator

And what about gladiators鈥� diets? Were they really the barley eaters that ancient texts describe?
Mike Tyson couldn’t survive off barley alone. The human body hasn’t evolved in the last 2,000 years. Our capabilities are what they are. If you took a heavyweight boxer and you started feeding him barley and ash, he wouldn’t be able to perform at the level he needed. So, yes, they were given sustenance.

They were given in the same way that sumo wrestlers are given stews to fatten them up. You had to, in a very economic way, feed your fighters. It’s findings in places like Herculaneum that are breaking these myths and giving us the understanding that they had very varied and balanced diets鈥攋ust like us鈥攊ncluding meat, fish, and cheese.

Gladiators, they鈥檙e just like us. Gladiators were people. Gladiators were high-performance athletes. Just like with modern fitness, their diet and exercise would have been honed and iterated upon by those who had a vested interest in their performance over the course of centuries.

Knowing they prized functionality over appearance gives me a critical eye for my own viewing of pop culture. That said, even if movies aren鈥檛 perfectly historically rendered, their role is to entertain and inspire. They鈥檙e allowed to deviate.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Prior to 国产吃瓜黑料, Ryleigh Nucilli was the Senior Manager of Ranker’s Weird History brand, where she spent lots of time investigating the historical accuracy of pop culture. Her work on gladiators’ diets can also be found in The New York Times bestseller .

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Hip extension exercises are in strength training routines for runners. Think glute bridges, hip thrusts, and deadlifts. Hip extension exercises focus on improving the strength of your posterior chain, which pull the leg backwards, primarily the Gluteus Maximus and its helpers, the Hamstrings and Adductor Magnus. During running, strong hip extensors can create more force to propel you forward, while strong lateral glute muscles, like the gluteus medius, can improve pelvic control and running mechanics.

The glute bridge is a common introductory exercise to strengthen the Gluteus Maximus. When performed correctly, the Gluteus Maximus lifts the hips off of the floor during the bridge. Without proper coaching cues, however, many runners do not extend the hips properly and incorporate mostly the helper hip extensor muscles, like the hamstrings, whilst not activating the glutes at all.

Learn How to Rotate Your Pelvis

In order to activate and connect with your Gluteus Maximus in the glute bridge exercise, you first need the body awareness to be able to rotate your pelvis. The pelvis can rotate forward (anteriorly) or backward (posteriorly). If you rotate your pelvis forward (cue of 鈥渂utt-out鈥�), your low back arch will increase in curvature, and if you rotate backward (cue of 鈥渂utt-in鈥�) your low back curve will lose its arch. To activate the glute muscles effectively, you need to think 鈥渂utt-in鈥� to rotate your pelvis backwards.

Learning how to rotate the pelvis can be somewhat tricky. The easiest way to learn how to position the pelvis in either 鈥渂utt-in鈥� or 鈥渂utt-out鈥� is by going on your hands and knees in a 鈥渢able鈥� position. Place your hips above your knees and your shoulders above your wrist. Next, round your back up like a cat. Notice how your pelvis rotates to bring your tailbone underneath you. This is a backward or posterior rotation of the pelvis, AKA 鈥渂utt-in.鈥�

Next, lower your spine to arch your back and push out your butt. This is a forward or anterior rotation of the pelvis, AKA 鈥渂utt-out.鈥� Repeat this movement several times as you feel what you鈥檙e doing to rotate your pelvis forward and backward.

Next, flip over on your back, bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. Do the exact same action in this posture. You鈥檒l notice that when your rotate forward, your low back will arch and lift off the floor. When your rotate backward, your low back will flatten toward the floor. Repeat this movement several times as you feel what you鈥檙e doing to rotate your pelvis forward and backward.

Bridge Options to Maximize Glute Activation

Here are 3 versions of the glute bridge, each with a slightly different set-up and unique advantages, but similar Gluteus Maximus activation cues. Incorporate each version of the bridge throughout the week.

Version 1: The Level Ground Glute Bridge with Band

Use: To strengthen the Gluteus Maximus and Gluteus Medius

Unique Advantage: Places minimal stress on neck compared to other glute bridge versions and only requires a band. The band around the knees creates the ability to strengthen the hip abductors (e.g. Gluteus Medius) in addition to the Gluteus Maximus.

Set-Up: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place a band around your knees.

Position your feet just beyond reach of your fingertips when your arms are flat on the ground beside your body. If you place your feet too far from your hips, you will include too much hamstring activation in your lift. If you place your feet too close to your hips, you鈥檒l involve your quads. So make sure you place your feet in the sweet spot that allows you to target your glutes.

Place your feet hip width apart and rotate your pelvis backward 鈥� think 鈥渂utt-in.鈥� Your low back should approach the floor as it flattens. Relax your neck and turn your palms up.

The Exercise:

Press your heels into the ground to lift your hips into the air. Keep your pelvis rotated backward and squeeze your glutes.

You will have to exaggerate the butt-in cue because many runners lift their hips too high and arch their low backs. In the correct position, your hips might be lower than when you have performed this exercise before. If you look down at your stomach, it will appear flat.

Next, press your knees outward into the band so that your knees travel outside of your feet. Continue to squeeze your glutes and hold this position for 10 seconds. Next, open and close your knees 10 times. Think of doing a clamshell exercise. During every rep, squeeze your glutes to turn your knees out.

Last, keep your knees pressed out and raise and lower your hips 10 times. Keep your pelvis rotated backwards as you do the lifts. Squeeze your glutes strongly at the top. Repeat this 10 times.

Suggested reps and sets: 3 sets of 3 x 10/10/10 (10-sec hold/10 open-close/10 up-down)

Version 2: The Back Elevated Glute Bridge with Band

Use: To strengthen the Gluteus Maximus and Gluteus Medius

Unique Advantage: Allows for greater range of motion of hip flexion and hip extension. The band around the knees creates the ability to strengthen the hip abductors (e.g. Gluteus Medius) in addition to the Gluteus Maximus. This version is best if weight is to be added across the hips.

Set-Up: You鈥檒l need an exercise bench, ottoman or couch to perform this version of the glute bridge.

Lie on your back with your shoulders on the edge of the elevated surface with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Place a band around your knees and position your feet between hip and shoulder width apart with your feet slightly turned out. Tuck your chin in to keep your neck inline with your torso.

The Exercise:

Push through your heels to lift your hips. Rotate your pelvis backward and squeeze your glutes at the top. Lift your hips to form a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Make sure to exaggerate the 鈥渂utt-in鈥� posture. Allow your torso to pivot onto the elevated surface. It鈥檚 acceptable to rest your head on the elevated surface at the top of each rep.

As you lift your hips up to form the bridge, turn your knees out into the band. Similar to Version 1, do not lift your hips too high or else your will arch your lower back too much.

Reverse the motion and lower your hips toward the floor. Pivot on the bench and lift your head to keep your neck inline with your torso.

Suggested reps and sets: 3鈥�4 sets of 15鈥�20 reps

Version 3: The Single-Leg Foot Elevated Glute Bridge

Use: To Strengthen the Gluteus Maximus and Proximal Hamstring

Unique Advantage: This single leg version strengthens the Gluteus Maximus in a more running specific action.

Set-Up: Lie on your back in front of an exercise bench, couch or ottoman. Place one foot on the edge of the elevated surface with your knee bent and opposite leg in the air. Place your hands on the ground with your palms up.

The Exercise:

Push your foot into the corner of the elevated surface to lift your hips up. Form a straight line from your knee to your shoulder and ensure you are squeezing your glute. Exaggerate the backward rotation of the pelvis to avoid over arching your low back at the top of the bridge.

Hold this position for 10 seconds. Next, raise and lower your hips 10 times, then hold the top of the bridge for 8 seconds. Then raise and lower your hips 8 times. Continue this pattern working your way down to 6, 4, 2 reps/seconds. Switch legs and repeat.

Suggested reps and sets: Perform 3 sets of the 10-2 countdown per leg.

—

Jon-Erik Kawamoto, MSc, CSCS, CEP is a Strength & Conditioning Coach with 15 years of experience. He鈥檚 a co-owner of听, a health and fitness business in St. John鈥檚, NL, Canada, a retired competitive runner and a long time contributor to PodiumRunner.

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Getting stronger is simple: lift heavy stuff, put it down, and repeat. According to a new review led by researchers from the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, you should use heavy weights that you鈥檙e capable of lifting one to five times through a full range of motion, and repeat for two to three sets a few times a week. That鈥檚 it. The rest is details.

Of course, the details are sometimes interesting鈥攅specially if you鈥檙e really trying to max out your performance, or returning from injury, or deployed somewhere far from the nearest gym. That鈥檚 what motivated the new review paper, which is by a team led by Barry Spiering, who was at USARIEM but has since moved on to a position as lead physiologist at New Balance鈥檚 Sports Research Lab. He and his colleagues tried to sum up what we currently know about how to get stronger in order to imagine how we might do better.

What Stimulates Strength Gains?

The opening section digs into root causes: what has to happen in your body in order to increase strength? Surprisingly, the first thing they identify is giving maximal mental effort. The bigger and clearer the signal your brain sends to your muscles, the more force you鈥檒l produce. And that signal-sending capability is trainable. Back in 2021, I wrote about a fascinating study in which locked-down pro basketball players gained strength by doing six weeks of completely imagined strength workouts three times a week. Similarly, lifting a light weight while imagining that you鈥檙e lifting a heavier one鈥攊.e. trying as hard as you can, even if you don鈥檛 need to鈥攑roduces greater strength gains.

Of course, strength isn鈥檛 all in your head. At the other end of the spectrum, using electricity to stimulate forceful muscle contractions also leads to strength gains, even though that requires no mental effort at all. In this case, it鈥檚 the muscle fibers and neurons themselves that adapt. So a training program that鈥檚 both mentally and physically challenging is the best of both worlds. Spiering also argues, based on the literature, that exercises should include both lifting and lowering the weight, and should move through a full range of motion.

The final point is more controversial: does metabolic stress in the muscles trigger strength gains? Endurance athletes know that hard exercise triggers a rise in lactate in their muscles, but that鈥檚 just one example among many: by one count, at least 196 metabolites rise or fall after a workout. One line of evidence that metabolites matter: blood-flow restriction training, which involves putting a blood-pressure cuff on your arm or leg while you lift, traps those metabolites in the limb and enhances the response to what would otherwise be easy exercises. Not everyone is convinced that metabolites matter for strength, but it鈥檚 an area of active research.

How Can We Exceed Current Limits?

Given what we know about how to stimulate strength gains, Spiering and his colleagues spitball some ideas for how to move beyond the usual lifting of heavy stuff.

One option is to lift heavier-than-maximal weights. This might seem impossible by definition, but there are a few possible workarounds. You could use electrical stimulation, either of the brain or of the nerves that activate the muscles themselves, to squeeze a little extra out of your muscles when you鈥檙e already pushing as hard as you can. You could take advantage of the fact that you can generate more force eccentrically (when you鈥檙e lowering a weight) than concentrically (when you鈥檙e raising it) by rigging up a system that gives you a heavier weight on the way down than the way up.

You could also figure out ways of amping up your mental effort during a lift that鈥檚 already at your physical limit. The weight itself isn鈥檛 heavier-than-max, but the neural effort鈥攁nd perhaps the resulting adaptations and strength gains鈥攁re. Alternatively, you could use mental imagery to add supplementary (but imaginary) workouts between your physical workouts, without delaying your muscles鈥� recovery from the last workout.

Biofeedback is another hot topic. Wireless EEG electrodes can quantify how hard your muscles are working, and show you the data on your phone in real time. This could help you push harder, or keep your effort in a target zone. Other technologies like muscle oxygen sensors could finetune when to stop one set, or when you鈥檙e recovered enough to start the next set.

What Can We Do Right Now?

Based on the ideas above, Spiering and his colleagues suggest a three-tiered approach to deal with specific strength-training challenges.

The first tier is no-load training, which is most relevant if you鈥檙e rehabbing an injury that prevents you from doing any physical training at all. One example, as mentioned above, is mental imagery workouts, where you imagine lifting weights in as much detail as possible. Another is opposite-limb training: if you have surgery on your left leg, you do exercises with your right leg. Since the brain signals for both limbs run along the same pathways, you get a 鈥渃ross-education鈥� effect that partly maintains strength in the injured limb. Finally, blood flow restriction might help, perhaps by elevating metabolic stress, even if you鈥檙e unable to train the limb.

The second is low-load training, which again could be useful during injury rehab and also works well if you don鈥檛 have access to a lot of gym equipment. There鈥檚 a robust body of evidence that lifting light weights can produce similar strength gains to lifting heavy weights, with the key caveat that you need to lift until close to failure. In other words, you need low load but high effort. There may be other ways of getting this effect, like where subjects lifted a light weight but imagined they were lifting a heavier one.

Finally, there鈥檚 the broad category of 鈥渟upplementary activities鈥�: biofeedback based on EMG or other data; electrical stimulation; blood flow restriction. All have been the subject of promising research, but none is quite ready to be rolled out for general consumption with simple guidelines.

The takeaway? I still think the basics of strength training are straightforward. For most of us, in most situations, it鈥檚 probably a good idea not to overcomplicate it: lift heavy stuff and don鈥檛 worry about imaginary exercises or electroshock workouts. But the ideas above are worth remembering for situations where, for one reason or another, you 肠补苍鈥檛 do a normal workout. And the one insight I鈥檒l keep in mind for all my workouts is the importance of mental effort. I鈥檝e always felt this intuitively, but it鈥檚 nice to know that being present and trying your hardest, rather than letting your mind wander, is a research-backed path to greater strength.

For more Sweat Science, join me on and , sign up for the , and check out my book .

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The worst thing about my new gym is all the mirrors. They line every wall, so I 肠补苍鈥檛 ignore the contrast between my reflection and everyone else鈥檚. I look small, soft, and uncertain, and I鈥檓 wearing clothes better suited to hiking than lifting. Everyone seems ripped and confident, pumping iron in skintight tanks.

I鈥檇 always subscribed to the 鈥渕ountains are my gym鈥� model of physical fitness, but after moving to a city recently, it became harder to stay fit by outdoor activity alone. The obvious solution was a gym membership, so I proposed a 30-day workout experiment to my editor. At the very least, I figured, I鈥檇 get in shape ahead of ski season for once.

I found an option that鈥檚 a 13-minute walk from my apartment and emailed Todd, the owner, to share my story: I鈥檝e never belonged to a gym that didn鈥檛 have a yoga studio or climbing wall, and I鈥檝e definitely never lifted weights, but I want to try. We agreed on a month of personal training: three sessions per week. Combined with the membership fees, it cost almost three-quarters of my rent. That reminded me why I鈥檇 never done this before, and it made me resent my high school PE teacher for not covering the weight-training basics.

On day one, I meet Todd at the front desk early in the morning. He offered to work with me as a personal trainer. He鈥檚 shorter than me but at least twice as wide, and he looks like he could pull a school bus with his bare hands.

Todd explains the breakdown of my three weekly sessions: we鈥檒l spend one day focused on legs and shoulders, another on chest and triceps, and the third on back and biceps. Each workout will be sandwiched between a warm-up and an abdominals-focused cooldown. I nod like all this makes intuitive sense.

The first session is a blur. By the time I finish, my legs feel like Jell-O and my stomach is queasy. Inexplicably, I鈥檓 smiling. Todd tells me I did well鈥攆or someone who鈥檚 never pumped iron. He fist-bumps me and says he鈥檒l see me tomorrow. I get the sense he鈥檚 laying odds on whether I show up.

The walk back home takes a few minutes longer than it should. When I get to my building, one leg buckles on the stairs and I nearly eat it. By afternoon the soreness is setting in. I tell my best friend that I鈥檓 worried about day two. Their response is: 鈥淧ain is temporary, Maren. Muscles are鈥� also temporary, but fun!鈥�

The next morning, Todd greets me with a lunatic grin and asks how I鈥檓 feeling. 鈥淎wful,鈥� I say. Somehow I make it through, though I am pretty sure I looked like a baby deer standing up for the first time. (Mirrors were avoided.) Todd keeps saying that 鈥渕ovement is medicine,鈥� and as my muscles warm up, I start to believe him. At the end, though, I feel rough. But I know now that I can get through a workout even if I feel like I 肠补苍鈥檛, and that鈥檚 new.

The next day I can barely walk, but I force myself to. Movement is medicine. I鈥檓 supposed to take a rest day and then get back to it, but I catch a horrendous cold that keeps me in bed for four days straight.

When I return to the gym the following week, the equipment doesn鈥檛 seem as intimidating. Todd tells me that the soreness I experienced was normal, and this week will be only half as bad. I鈥檓 not sure I believe him, but the prediction pans out.

Over the next three weeks, I feel a bit stronger with each session. The exercises get easier, and I notice that the numbers on the weights Todd hands me are going up. Little milestones feel like victories: one day the weights actually feel too light. I do my first squats with a bar. I show up at the gym in a sports bra instead of a T-shirt.

At the end of week four, my trainer tells me I look stronger and I鈥檓 moving better. I feel it鈥攏ot just in the gym, but elsewhere in my life. I鈥檓 now used to waking up early, and the lingering soreness reminds me that I鈥檓 building muscle. Best of all, I want to keep pushing myself. I 肠补苍鈥檛 afford a trainer for every workout, but I have a plan to go solo, including a few strategic days with Todd to learn new workout rotations.

During my final training session, I check my form in the mirror and realize that I don鈥檛 look out of place. I notice other people who don鈥檛 look like Greek gods, either鈥攁n older couple, two women my age, a preteen boy. We鈥檙e all learning together. The same goes for the people who look like they belong: they share tips, spot one another, and offer encouragement. Sometimes they even nod at me, as if to say: Hello, fellow gym rat.

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The shoulder is one of the most mobile joints in the body, and excessive mobility demands stability. Many types of athletes鈥攊ncluding climbers, cyclists, weightlifters, and triathletes鈥攕hould build and maintain shoulder stability to prevent injuries.

If you use your upper body in any capacity while you exercise, even just for stabilization while your lower body does most of the apparent work, the muscles around your shoulder joints must be strong to support you during your daily activities.听

As a physical therapist and CrossFit coach, shoulder injuries are the most common issue I see among athletes, especially seasoned ones. There are three main reasons for shoulder injury in my experience: poor mobility, inadequate strength, and improper form or bad lifting mechanics. Day-to-day movements, such as slouching while working, picking kids up with bad posture, or any repetitive movements, can also provoke injuries.

One or all of these things can be the culprit, and taking action before a minor ache turns into a serious issue can save you time, money, and stress. All it takes is some basic maintenance鈥攁nd it doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective.

Here are three of my favorite听tried-and-true shoulder stability movements I use with my clients:听

1. Standing or Half-Kneeling Row/External Rotation/Press

This exercise is actually three movements that can be performed as a sequence or done individually. Make sure you can do each step with good form before putting them all together.听

The target muscle groups are your posterior chain and the back, shoulder, and core muscles that support your rotator cuff. Strengthening these muscles is essential for many activities that require upper-body strength.听

How to Do It

Get into a half-kneeling position, stepping forward with the foot opposite of the shoulder you plan to work. If half kneeling is too challenging for you, perform this exercise standing. Use a band that has anywhere from 10 to 30 pounds of resistance, depending on your upper-body strength.听

For the first part of this exercise, hold the band with your arm straight out, shift your shoulder blade back, and perform a row while keeping your elbow and shoulder at 90 degrees. Hold his position for a three count.听

Next, externally rotate your shoulder so that your palm is facing forward, and hold this position for another three count.听

Finally, press up so that your elbow is fully straight and locked out by your ear. Hold for a three count in this position.听

Aim to do three to four sets of 12 to 15 reps to build endurance. Move through each of these positions with good form, maintaining 90-degree angles at your shoulder and elbow.听If you feel any pain, don’t push through it.听

Tips: Maintain a neutral lumbar spine, avoiding any increased bending in your low back in this position. If your arm ends up slightly in front of you as you build strength, that is OK. 听

2. Bottom-Up Kettlebell Press/Static Hold in Half Kneeling听

Nothing challenges overhead stability quite like an unfamiliar object. A kettlebell, if you have access to one, is an excellent tool to build overhead endurance and stability. This move can also be performed with a dumbbell held vertically for a similar effect.

The bottom-up kettlebell press and the static hold are both done while kneeling. This will not only challenge your shoulder stability, but also your midline and core control.听

How to Do It

While half kneeling, position a kettlebell in the bottom-up position with the handle downward. Brace your core and press upward until your elbow is locked out next to your ear. Make sure you are not hyperextending at your lower back (Think: ribs down).听

Lower the bell into the front-rack position with your shoulder and elbow at 90 degrees and your elbow facing forward. Press back up to the locked out position, and repeat until you’ve completed the target number of reps.

Perform three sets of eight per side, gradually increasing your reps to 12 to 15听before increasing the weight.听

If pressing the kettlebell overhead is too difficult, try starting out with a static hold. Again, position the kettlebell in the bottom-up position, and get into half kneeling. Bring the kettlebell to the front-rack position with your elbow and shoulder at 90 degrees.

Here, retract your shoulder blade as you perform a static hold. (Think: pull the shoulder down and back.) Begin with 15 to 20 seconds, eventually progressing to three sets of 60 seconds.

Once you’re comfortable maintaining this position, revisit the bottom-up press to see if your shoulder has the stability to perform the full movement.听

3. Scapular Y Raise

Another exercise I love for improving the strength and stability of your shoulder blade is a Y raise. This plane of motion (45 degrees in front of the body) is perfect for learning how to engage the scapular muscles, which are responsible for moving and supporting your shoulder blades.听

How to Do It

Begin by squeezing your shoulder blades down and back to engage your scapular muscles.听

With your thumbs pointed up, raise your arms into the Y position, to shoulder height, and hold at the top for a five count.听

Slowly lower down with control. These holds at the top position promote endurance when performing other overhead movements in and out of the gym.听

Begin with two sets of 15, eventually progressing to three sets of 15. Start with a light weight between one and five pounds鈥攜ou will be surprised how challenging this exercise becomes through the repetitions, even with very little resistance.

Incorporate all of the above exercises into your routine to build shoulder stability and strength that will translate to all your favorite outdoor activities as well as your daily life.

Genevieve Gyulavary is a doctor of physical therapy, CrossFit Level I-certified trainer, and co-owner and coach at in South Windsor, Connecticut.听

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Pull-ups are impressive, which means that for many athletes, they鈥檙e aspirational. If you 肠补苍鈥檛 do one, odds are you鈥檇 like to. If you can, maybe you鈥檙e gunning for the single-arm or weighted variation. Once you鈥檙e able to do a few pull-ups, it鈥檚 easy to see how you might build up to more. But if you 肠补苍鈥檛 do even one, where do you start?

Most people have what they need to lift their own body weight鈥攖he issue is accessing all of the muscles needed for the job. People tend to rely on the upper trapezius and elbow flexors, such as the biceps brachii, which shrug the shoulders and bend the elbows but听fall short when it comes to lifting the whole weight of the body. Other critical muscles, like the and the , might be dormant or just hard for the brain to activate.

In the image below, you can see the line of strength that connects the rock climber鈥檚听hand all the way down to his lower back. This system of muscles spans from the flexors of the hand, forearm, and elbow to the back line of the arm, shoulder extensors, external rotators, and latissimus dorsi muscle, as well as into the rest of the core. Activating听all this gives us the capability to paddle, climb, and swim for hours鈥攁nd perform a single pull-up.

The latissimus is a powerful muscle that depresses the clavicle and scapula鈥攖he shoulder girdle鈥攁nd lifts the waist up to the arms, while also pulling the upper arm bones toward the trunk and into shoulder extension and adduction (see the illustration below). This is the most important muscle听to focus on when learning to do a pull-up. You can identify your lat by feeling with your fingertips at the back of your armpit and side ribs; squeeze your arm down like you鈥檙e trying to press juice out of a grapefruit in your armpit, and you should feel a bulk of muscle tissue contract that you can grab with your whole hand. You can increase the contraction by听simultaneously lifting the waist on the same side up toward the armpit.

The moves below are designed to safely increase听in difficulty. As you develop strength, you can use the entry exercises as warm-ups for more difficult ones. This process will likely take weeks to months, depending on your level of entry. These exercises aren鈥檛 just for show, either: pull-ups, and the moves that help you build up to them, can help improve your strength-to-weight ratio, tone your upper body, and serve as cross-training for many different sports and activities.

The Moves

Inverted Rows with Suspension Straps

What they do: This is an excellent entry-level pull exercise that engages the upper back muscles, specifically the latissimus dorsi.

How to do them: Loop suspension straps over a branch, bar, or other secure, elevated structure. Begin standing, with the grips in both hands听and your arms straight in front of you, and walk your feet forward until you feel challenged by the body-weight load. The more you walk your feet forward, the more difficult the move will be. Pull yourself up and into an inverted plank position with a rowing motion, bending your arms and pulling your elbows behind you. Your shoulder blades will start wide on your rib cage, then slide toward the spine as you reach the top of the movement. Focus on engaging your lats, core, and the backs of your shoulders, instead of relying on the upper trapezius or elbow flexors. Reverse this movement as you slowly lower back to the starting position. Make sure you can hold that starting position with straight arms and maintain good form throughout the entire range of motion. Progress to the next exercise after you build confidence and strength with this move.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Hip Hinge Pull-Ups with Suspension Straps听

What they do: This move brings you through the full range of motion of a pull-up鈥攂ut with the assistance of your heels on the ground. It engages the latissimus and triceps muscles by engaging your shoulders in a wide-arm T-shape position. You should feel the lat work to pick your waist up and pull your elbows down toward your trunk, especially at the top of the move.

How to do them: Begin by adjusting the strap handles to be at about hip height when standing. Then sit down, with your legs straight out in front of you,听and start with straight arms gripping the handles in an inverted row position. You can keep your hips on the ground here if you need the assistance. Pull up into a seated hip-hinge position, widen your elbows, and pull them straight down toward your sides. Your front and back core should be firing to help lift you into this 90-degree hip-fold position. At the top of the position, you should feel your lats activate to lift your bottom up from the ground, like you are trying to go chin over bar at the top of a pull-up. Hold for one second, then slowly unfold back into the starting position of the inverted row. Your heels and legs should stay in the same place throughout the move. You will probably have to wiggle around to find the right place to begin and end relative to where your straps are anchored.

Volume: Perform one to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Box Assisted Pull-Ups听

What they do: This move helps you find all of the necessary muscle activation for a pull-up without too heavy of a load. Take what you鈥檝e learned from exercises one and two and apply your strength here.

How to do them: Place a stable box beneath a bar, and let your legs hang limp and heavy on the box as you hold onto the bar. Do not push with your feet. Try hanging here at the starting position. Activate your lats and shoulder muscles to pull your shoulders down, away from your ears. Then imagine that you鈥檙e trying to squeeze a grapefruit tucked into your armpits. This will draw your upper arm bones toward your waist and send your trunk up toward the bar. Keep pulling until you sneak your chin over the bar. Congrats! You just did a reduced body-weight pull-up. Lower slowly back to the starting position.

Volume: One to three sets of three to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Band Assisted Pull-ups

What they do: This is another way to feel the work of a full pull-up without lifting your entire body weight, using a large resistance band to reduce the load.

How to do them: Hitch a large resistance band to a bar. Pull the loop down and step one foot into the loop while you set up your starting position. Keep standing in the loop as you get your hands positioned on the bar. Try hanging here at the starting position. Activate your lat, shoulder extensors, and core to pull your shoulders down away from your ears. Then draw your upper arm bones toward your waist, and lift your trunk until you sneak your chin over the bar. Choose the amount of assistance you require from the elastic band by determining the appropriate strength of band (10 pounds, 25 pounds, etc); you may need quite a bit of assistance from the band to start in some cases. Reduce the strength of the band over time.

Volume: One to three sets of three to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Isometric Pull-ups

What they do: After the entry-level exercises have been mastered, isometric exercises help you get the feel of holding your body weight in various pull-up positions without the more difficult tasks of lifting and lowering.

How to do them: Position a box under a bar, stand on the box, and grab the bar. Create a 90-degree elbow and shoulder position, and hold firm in this shape. You are about to lift your feet off of the box. Hold tight and squeeze your core, lat, and shoulder muscles that you鈥檝e strengthened and activated in exercises one through four. Once you have held this for the allotted amount of time, back onto the box. Do not lower or lift into the position. Rest. The 90-degree shape is a great angle to train, but you can also perform isometric hangs at higher and lower angles of the pull-up motion. Choose to perform the holds in angles where you feel you need the work. Sometimes this is at the start of the pull-up, when your elbows are extended to around 160 degrees.

Volume: Hold for three to eight seconds. Perform one to five sets of one hold. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Eccentric Pull-ups

What they do: It鈥檚 easier to slowly lower out of a pull-up than to slowly lift into one. Lowering uses eccentric strength, which utilizes a protein in our muscles called titin that helps us resist lengthening, thereby allowing us to produce more force. Be sure to warm up before attempting this move.

How to do them: Position a box under a bar that is tall enough to allow you to grab it and start at the top of a pull-up without having to lift yourself into position. Hold the starting position, and lift your feet away from the box. You should be able to stay here for a few seconds, then slowly lower until your elbows are nearly straight. Step onto the box or touch down on the floor. That鈥檚 one repetition. Rest, then restart at the top.

Volume: Two to five sets of one repetition. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise one to two times per week. As you get stronger, you can perform several reps back-to-back, performing one to three sets of three to five repetitions as your strength improves.

Body Weight Pull-up

What they do: Congratulations! If you have arrived here, that means you put in the work to get to know your whole pull system and you鈥檝e increased your strength to match your body weight for a full pull-up. A body weight pull-up will help strengthen the entire chain of muscles that you have been training throughout the program, and it鈥檚 a great cross-training tool for any movement or sport that involves pulling or overhead lifting.

How to do them: Be sure you鈥檙e fully warmed up before attempting this move. Stand under a bar and begin by hanging with your elbows nearly straight but your shoulders firmly drawn down away from your ears. You should feel your whole 鈥減ull鈥� line activate from your fists to your core. Contract the system together, leading the way with the lats working to draw the upper arm bones toward your trunk. Pull up the front of your core. Keep everything working to the very top and as you lower.

Volume: Two to five sets of one repetition. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise one to two times per week. As you get stronger, you can perform several reps back-to-back, doing one to three sets of three to ten repetitions as your strength improves.

Esther Smith, a doctor of physical therapy certified in mechanical diagnosis and therapy, has specialized in treating athletes (specifically rock climbers) for the past decade. She is a storyteller, mountain athlete, and high-performance coach for the . You can find Smith鈥檚 written and video resources cataloged at and learn more about her physical-therapy practice at .

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Mobility encompasses all the features of a healthy joint: flexibility, stability, elasticity, strength, and coordination. Good mobility has cascading positive effects鈥攈ip and ankle mobility can help resolve knee and lower-back pain, spinal rotation helps us access powerful parts of our bodies as we run and twist鈥攚hile poor mobility can lead to pain and injury.

Our joints act like springs, offering shock absorption and elastic rebound. And for springs to be powerful, they need to strike the right balance between laxity and stiffness. Mobility training helps us fine-tune this balance. If you take inventory of your body every day, before or after you work out, you鈥檒l start to learn where your limitations lie. Where are the springs too loose? Where are you restricted or hypermobile?

Mobility training is more than just passive stretching鈥攊t isn鈥檛 just a matter of flexibility, and you don鈥檛 gain joint mobility through stretching or foam rolling alone. In addition to stretching and myofascial release techniques, one of the best ways to improve mobility is to train with resistance and use your muscles to actively bring the joints through their full range of motion. Addressing joint limitations requires a targeted approach that biases those places where a joint (or a series of joints) needs to roll, glide, slide, pivot, or hinge. Joint-mobility exercises often use bands, anchors, light weights, and trigger-point balls, which help to more specifically target the joint(s) of interest.

Everyone is unique in their mobility, influenced by things like injury, genetics, and lifestyle, so it鈥檚 important to assess your own range of motion to determine which areas need more strength and stability and which need more stretching and flexibility. You can receive a thorough mobility assessment from a local trainer, a physical therapist, or an online consultation with a coaching service.

The moves presented here听provide a gentle way to begin the self-assessment process, working from the ground up with ankle mobility all the way听through the spine and shoulders. If you鈥檙e new to this type of mobility work, ease into it, introducing load and speed gradually. If you feel pain during an exercise, reduce the range of motion or the force or load being used. Adjust the movement to work for you.

The Moves

Ankle Dorsiflexion Mobilization with a Band

What it does: This move increases ankle dorsiflexion: the front-to-back plane of movement, which is critical for running, walking, squatting, skiing, and more. If an ankle doesn鈥檛 bend well, other parts of that foot and leg will compensate鈥攚hich can contribute to foot problems like hammertoe and bunions, as well as issues in the knees, hips, and spine. An ankle injury can impede dorsiflexion long after the injury heals. Good range of motion in the ankle gives us more elastic potential in the Achilles tendon, which is helpful when running and jumping.

Typical ankle dorsiflexion is anywhere from 15 to 30 degrees of forward bending while bearing weight, depending on influences like genetics, injury history, and use patterns. You can measure yours with a simple knee-to-wall test, outlined . Having limited ankle dorsiflexion (usually less than 15 degrees) could show up as an early lift of the heel when walking uphill or squatting or difficulty going straight down steps without subtle compensations such as overpronating the foot to make up for the lack of hinging at the ankle joint. The goal is to have a functional and symmetrical range of motion in both ankles that is appropriate for the individual.

How to do it: Fix a thin, with about 15 pounds of resistance a couple of inches off the ground. Start in a single-leg kneeling position, with the band looped around your front ankle. Use your hands to gently push your lower leg forward as you rock forward until your knee is beyond your toes. You should feel a stretch but no pain. To intensify, move farther away from the anchor point, or place a light weight on top of the thigh to help drive the heel into the ground and add pressure to the mobilization.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for 5 to 30 seconds each. Perform this move anywhere from two to seven days a week.

Internal and External Knee Rotation

What it does: Knee rotation is an often overlooked part of knee mobility. When the knee straightens, the larger lower leg bone (the tibia) subtly externally rotates. The opposite happens when the knee bends. If you鈥檙e struggling with stiffness or pain in your knees during squatting, kneeling, running, jumping, or going up and down stairs, this could be an important plane of movement to evaluate and train. This move can help you take inventory and address rotational limitations by regularly performing the internal and external rotation action to its end range as part of your mobility training.

How to do it: Begin seated on the floor. Bend one knee to 90 degrees and hold the ankle at 90 degrees. Locate the bony prominence on the front of the tibia called the tibial tuberosity (located at the top of the shin; see the blue dot indicator, pictured above). Without moving your thigh bone or rotating through the foot or ankle, try to rotate your lower leg (shank) inward and outward as pictured. Your foot and ankle will follow the swivel of your shin. You may feel deep muscles working behind the knee, like the popliteus, which creates the inward rotation motion of the tibia. As you fully rotate inward and outward, you will know when you鈥檝e gone far enough based on how your other knee functions and feels. Healthy joints have a feeling at the end range that鈥檚 like pressing into a moist, pliable sponge versus a brick wall or a piece of leather. If one direction feels limited or stiff, then your goal is to condition it through movement and for your end-range stretch to become hydrated and extensible.

Volume: Perform one to three sets of five to eight repetitions on each knee, holding for 2 to 20听seconds at each end range. Do this one to five days a week.

Hip Mobilization with a Band on Four Planes

What it does: The hips are the powerhouse of the core and hold massive elastic potential in foot-powered and throwing movements鈥攂ut you need mobility to access that potential, and the hips are also a major place of congestion and limited range of motion. Your day-to-day life likely isn鈥檛 doing you any favors. Our modern environments are conveniently set up so we don鈥檛 have to deeply squat to lower ourselves to the floor to sit, or reach very high or low to get things off of shelves, which means we can move through our everyday lives without using our full hip mobility. Sitting a lot, whether in your car or at your desk, doesn鈥檛 help either. These static stretches use a band to apply decompressive force on the hip joint in a variety of directions by pulling the femur bone statically toward the anchor. By varying the direction of pull on the elastic band and changing the position of the leg, you can bias different areas of the joint capsule and other soft tissues.

How to do it: Fix a wide, strong elastic band (offering between 30 and 65 pounds of resistance) at an anchor point close to the ground. Once you find a deep, comfortable stretch in each position, hold for several breaths. Go to the point where you feel a good stretch, but not pain, gently nudging the joint into its end range of motion.

Hip Flexion: Lie听on the floor with your knees bent and your feet on the ground. Place the band in the fold of your hip joint, where the thigh bone meets the pelvis. Orient your body so the band anchor is directly parallel to the direction of your spine (the band should be heading straight out from your tailbone to the anchor). Once the band is nestled into the hip fold, slowly bring your knee straight into your chest, using both hands to guide the hip into flexion. You are looking for a gentle stretch in your hip flexors, glutes, and upper hamstring, as well as a decompression deep in the hip joint and lower back. To intensify this movement, bring your knee closer to your chest or move farther away from the anchor point by scooting your whole body.

External Hip Rotation: With the band in the same position, orient your body so the band anchor is slightly perpendicular to the direction of your spine鈥攜ou can adjust this angle depending on where you want to focus the stretch. Do this by scooting your whole body on the floor. Once you鈥檙e settled on your angle and the band is nestled into the hip fold, slowly bring your hip out into a figure-four position, placing your ankle on the opposite thigh and opening your knee outward. Use both hands to guide the knee and foot to produce external rotation at the hip joint. You are looking for a gentle stretch in your hip flexors, glutes, and deep hip rotators, as well as a decompression force deep in the hip joint and lower back. To intensify this, move farther away from the anchor point by scooting your whole body, and adjust the depth and angle of the figure-four position.

Hip Adduction: From the same position,听slowly bring your knee toward the midline of your body. Use both hands to guide the knee toward your chest and across the midline. You may feel a gentle stretch in your hip flexors, glutes, and deep hip rotators, as well as a decompression force deep in the hip joint and lower back. To intensify this, move farther away from the anchor point and adjust the position of the leg.

Hip Extension: Start in a single-leg kneeling position, facing the anchor point, with the band looped around your rear leg. Place the band in the crease of your buttocks where your hamstring meets your glutes. Orient your body so the band anchor is directly parallel to the direction of your spine (the band should be heading straight out in front of you, toward the anchor). Gently settle into a lunge, allowing the band to apply a pull on the femur toward the anchor. You will likely feel a significant stretch in your hip flexors and quadriceps. To intensify, deepen the lunge, press gently forward with your hand on your buttocks, or move farther away from the anchor point by scooting your whole body. You can also lift the corresponding arm, creating length and stretch along the entire side of your body.

Volume: Do one to three sets of each move, holding each for 5 to 60 seconds, varying the ranges of motion. Work through these stretches one to five days per week.

Standing Hip Range of Motion

How to do it: Begin standing. Find your balance on one leg, supporting yourself with one hand at a wall if necessary. Guide the moving thigh into flexion, bringing the knee into the chest as much as is comfortable. Slowly lower the thigh to 90 degrees, then open the hip outward fully and slowly straighten the knee, attempting to hold the leg directly out to the side in while keeping your trunk upright. Next, turn the leg into internal rotation, pointing your foot toward the floor, and swing the leg slowly behind you into extension. Tip your trunk forward only as far as is necessary to maintain a straight line from your spine through your lifted heel. Return to start position. Ideally, you should be able to lift your hip until your thigh touches your chest; hold the leg out to the side at hip height, and lift your leg into extension at hip height behind you. Feel free to support yourself with your hands at the end of each movement.

Volume: Do one to five reps of this move on each hip, holding each position for a few breaths. Perform this move one to five days a week.

Spinal Rotation with External Shoulder Rotation

How to do it: Begin standing perpendicular to a wall, with your feet hip-width distance apart. Place the inside arm against the wall with a 90-degree elbow bend. Actively press that arm into the wall, creating a static external rotation force. Keep your pelvis and hips squared forward. Raise your outside arm in a windmill motion: in front of you, overhead, and then behind you. Simultaneously rotate your whole spine away from the wall, leading with your sternum. Return to the start position and repeat.

Volume: Do one to three sets of five to ten repetitions on each side, holding for a few breaths wherever you feel tension or stiffness. Perform this move one to five days a week.

Esther Smith, a doctor of physical therapy certified in mechanical diagnosis and therapy, has specialized in treating athletes (specifically rock climbers) for the past decade. She is a storyteller, mountain athlete, and high-performance coach for the . You can find Smith鈥檚 written and video resources cataloged at and learn more about her physical-therapy practice at .

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Many wildland firefighters work 72-hour shifts, which include hiking over rugged terrain with a pack that can weigh up to 90 pounds, explains former wildland firefighter Katy Luetke, a certified strength and conditioning coach for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. And these firefighters need to be in shape nearly all year: Luetke says that while fire season in California used to last from June to October, it now runs from April through the end of December, thanks to drought conditions exacerbated by climate change.听鈥淵our ability to endure a season is very much dependent on both your endurance听and your strength,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭he combination of those two factors is work capacity.鈥�

The Workout

Luetke keeps her team fit for duty with moves like the ones below. She suggests starting with a ten-minute warm-up (she likes Turkish get-ups), followed by stretching. Cycle through the entire sequence three times, resting only as needed. You鈥檒l need a moderate weight, a heavy weight, a pull-up bar, a rope, and a sandbag鈥攆eel free to improvise, though, using whatever household items you have. Luetke recommends completing the workout two to four times a week.

The Moves

Reverse Goblet Lunges

What it does: Targets the lower body and core

How to do it: Using both hands, hold a medium-weight kettlebell (or dumbbell, cinder block, or whatever you have) to your chest. Stand with your feet hip-width apart, parallel to one another.

Engaging your core, take a big step back with your right foot, bending your right knee. At the same time, bend your left knee to about 90 degrees, making sure it doesn鈥檛 go past your left toes. At the bottom of the movement your right knee should graze the floor. Engage your left glute to stand, stepping your right foot forward to return to your starting stance. Alternate sides for a total of 16 reps.

Make it easier by using bodyweight, or increase the intensity by adding more weight.

Push-Ups

What it does: Develops the chest, shoulders, triceps, core, and shoulder stabilizers

How to do it: Start by getting on all fours on the floor. Keep your wrists directly under your shoulders to make the move more challenging, or take a wider stance to make it easier. Extend your legs so that your knees are straight and your weight is distributed through your palms and your toes.

Retract your shoulders, engage your core, and bend your elbows to bring your chest down to the point where it grazes the floor. Straighten your elbows to return to the starting position. Maintain a neutral neck position throughout. Perform ten to 25 reps.

Need to dial down the intensity? Rest your weight on your knees instead of your toes. To make it harder, set a weight plate on your back or wear a weighted vest or backpack with something substantial inside. To avoid injury, progress gradually. Start with five pounds; once you can complete the higher end of the rep range with good form, increase the weight by another five or so pounds.

Pull-Ups

What it does: Strengthens the back, arms, and shoulders

How to do it: Start under the pull-up bar with your arms fully extended overhead. Grip the bar with your hands about shoulder-width apart using an overhand grip (palms facing away from you). If you鈥檙e still mastering the move, Luetke suggests starting with a mixed grip; use an overhand grip in one hand and an underhand grip (palms facing you) in the other. If you need to modify it further, use an underhand grip and do chin-ups instead鈥攁 chin-up involves the same exact movements as a pull-up; the only difference is your grip, which makes it easier.

For both chin-ups and pull-ups, retract your shoulders, engage your core, and bend your elbows to about 90 degrees, bringing your chin above the bar. To come down, extend your elbows slowly and with control back to the starting position. Complete as many reps as possible with good form.

To make it easier, use a super band (a thick looped band with a rectangular profile) for assistance, start with a jump, or do reverse rows (aka bodyweight rows) if you have access to a squat rack and a barbell or a TRX suspension trainer.

Sandbag Rope Pull

What it does: Works the back, shoulders, traps, and biceps

How to do it: Tie one end of a rope to a sandbag鈥攖his could be a duffel bag filled with sand, heavy books, rocks, bricks, or whatever you have. With the other end in your hands, unfurl the rope to its full length and sit on the floor with the bag in front of you. Bend your knees and plant your feet on the floor slightly wider than hip-width apart. Engage your core and lean back slightly.

With your palms facing one another, grasp the rope in each hand. With your right arm fully extended, reach down between your knees. Meanwhile, bend your left elbow so your left hand is holding the rope by your right armpit. As you bend your right arm to pull the sandbag toward you, release your left hand, straighten your left arm, grasp the rope between your legs, and pull. Continue until the sandbag is at your feet. Perform two rope pulls.

Uneven Loaded Farmer Carry

What it does: Targets the core, lower body, back, biceps, triceps, forearms, and hand muscles

How to do it: To start, deadlift a moderate to heavy weight into each hand from the floor, so that you鈥檙e holding them at your sides with your elbows fully extended. A dumbbell, kettlebell, or even a loaded duffel bag or suitcase will work.

To do a deadlift, stand with your feet about hip-width apart. Keeping your back flat and your chest up, slightly bend your knees and hinge forward from your hips while reaching down to grasp your weights, keeping your elbows extended. Thrust your hips forward to come back to a standing position with arms by your sides, keeping your core engaged throughout.

Luetke suggests using weights that are within 30 percent to 50 percent of each other鈥檚 weight, such as a 25-pounder and a 40-pounder.

At the top of the deadlift, hold your arms fully extended by your sides and walk at a comfortable pace with a weight in each hand for 30 seconds. Then set your weights down on the floor, switch hands, and deadlift them back up from the floor and walk for 30 more seconds, for a total of one minute. (Don鈥檛 worry about how far you can walk during that minute.)

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