What does your training look like? Is your program getting you the results you want or do think it could be better? Are you wasting your time on pointless exercises or avoiding the ones your really need?
To get the body you want, you have to have your training dialed in, and you can’t be making the same mistakes everyone else does. Today, we got five awesome fitness experts to share their opinions on training and where guys can improve — these guys know a thing or two (or two thousand) about helping guys build a bad ass body.
Try their advice and see how it helps your training! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! We read every response.
What Do You Think Is The Most Underrated Or Underappreciated Exercise In Most Guys’ Training?
Sean Hyson
The glute-ham raise.
This apparatus is nowhere to be found in most commercial gyms and it’s a major shame. It strengthens the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back, which are weak points for nearly everyone these days. Get strong on glute-hams and all your lifts will improve, you’ll stand up straighter, you’ll run smoother, and prevent a variety of injuries.
Everyone should be doing these regardless of their goals.
Kyle Clarke
Squats! It engages so many muscle groups and burns so many calories that is one of my top 4 favorite exercises. I see other people in the gym avoid it like the plague because either they don’t train their legs very often, or they don’t want to put that much effort into their workout. Either way, they are missing out on the easiest way to lose weight and tone up.
Adam Copeland
The Romanian Deadlift. It works every muscle most people neglect, and requires an important movement pattern required for optimal performance and functioning.
Rob Sulaver
The bench press. It’s like everyone wants to go to the gym and do scap stability, glute med, and VMO work. Ugh.
Marc Perry
Lunges. So many guys never do lunges, or single leg training, because they think it’s for girls. I used to think the same thing myself, but training on one leg is very functional and also challenging. It’s one of the handful of basic movement patterns we should all be doing consistently.
If Any, What Do You Think Is The Most Overrated Exercise?
Kyle Clarke
Anything on a BOSU ball is a waste of time. I see these people standing on a BOSU ball with one leg, squatting down with the other while lifting up a small weight with the opposite side hand. I just don’t get it. It looks ridiculous to me and I don’t understand why they don’t max out their gains by doing each exercise separately on a stable surface.
Adam Copeland
Any form of shrug. Unless you’re a bodybuilder. Few people need more scapular elevation, and taking a shrug from the context of any big movements like cleans, snatches, and pull is a waste of time.
Sean Hyson
Any kind of stability exercise done on an unstable surface.
I think there’s value in some of this training for some people, some of the time. But it’s become too hot a trend in recent years. People need to control their body weight on solid ground — that’s where you’re going to be for 99% of your lifetime. Doing curls or squats on a ball may look cool but it’s actually shutting down muscles, not turning them on.
Consider this: Over 100 years ago, strongman performers lifted enormous weights overhead and did all kinds of balancing acts. They knew little to nothing about nutrition, had no Swiss balls, and used no steroids. Still, they were stronger, healthier, and more well rounded than nearly everybody I’ve met in athletics or the fitness industry today. There’s a lot of value in simple, old-school training that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Rob Sulaver
Okay, giggles aside – the bench press. I don’t care how much you can press. I care how much you can front squat.
Marc Perry
Definitely Barbell Bench Press. The risk/reward ratio is not that compelling and it’s like the king of all upper body exercises in the minds of most guys who bench like 2-3x per week. There is no faster way to ruin your shoulders than to bench 2-3x per week. It took me a while to understand but you can have a big, muscular chest that’s very strong without barbell benching and your shoulders will likely be a lot healthier.
How Do You Stay So Humble After Being Strong, Fast, And In Phenomenal Shape?
Marc Perry
I don’t think being in a certain type of shape, or having a certain type of look defines a person. So if I was in the best shape of anyone in the world, it wouldn’t make me believe i was better than anyone else.
Rob Sulaver
HA! That’s sweet of you. You think I’M humble?
Adam Copeland
I really believe that we all have more potential for awesomeness than we think, and every day is a chance to tap into that. Every workout and every meal is a chance to get stronger, faster, and leaner. Hanging around people who are stronger, faster, and in even better shape doesn’t hurt either.
Sean Hyson
I don’t see myself as being that good and, again, I know I can always be better. And it’s easy to be humble when there’s always someone out there who does what you do best a lot better. Rather than run from it to avoid the embarrassment of comparison, you should embrace it. You should actively seek people who are better and find out how they can make you better.
Kyle Clarke
There’s much more to life than physical appearance. Bill Gates invented Microsoft; Donald Trump is a genius billionaire real estate tycoon; Michael Phelps has won 17 gold medals; and I’m going to think I’m special for having a six-pack? I guess I just see things in perspective and focus on the bigger picture.
What Is Your Biggest Pet Peeve In The Gym?
Rob Sulaver
Girls who always try to get my number. It’s like they think I’m just a piece of meat. I have thoughts, you know?
Adam Copeland
I hate to see people going through the motions. You get out of your workout what you put in. A poor effort will yield a poor result, but the opposite is also true.
Sean Hyson
The terrible, low-energy, uninspiring atmosphere that most gyms create.
Please understand this: any gym that petitions for quiet, tells you not to drop weights, disallows deadlifts, won’t let you train in minimalist footwear, or that plays Britney Spears songs all day on the stereo system is going to let you make little to no progress. So many gyms/health clubs today are run like hotels. They want to get you in, give you a gentle, calming experience, and get you out so you don’t take up space they could be filling with other members. It’s a business.
I’m not saying every gym has to be a dark dungeon of iron that you have to puke in to make progress, but it has to be a place you take seriously. You should go there for fun but also to work. Exercise has to feel like a job, albeit one you love and want to succeed in.
Kyle Clarke
Trying to hold a conversation with me while I’m working out. I don’t mind someone coming up and saying hello, but when 5, 10, 15 minutes go by and I’m losing the intensity and momentum that I built up since I walked in the door, it starts to suck the energy out of my workout. Sometimes I just ask the person to grab a drink or bite to eat with me after my workout so I can get back into my zone and finish what I started.
Marc Perry
Really bad exercise form. It makes me cringe.
The Best Benefit Of Being In Great Shape Is __________?
Adam Copeland
Learning self-discipline. It is something most people pine for, but few have the determination to practice.
Sean Hyson
Increased self-confidence.
There’s no question about it — feeling good about yourself and knowing you can set high goals and achieve them is the most satisfying aspect of life. Men and women are attracted to confidence in each other. Employers are attracted to it. Even your enemies respect it. The better care you take of yourself physically, the sharper you’re going to be mentally, the more balanced you’re going to be emotionally, and the more you’re going to enjoy every moment you have on earth.
Kyle Clarke
Confidence. Feeling good about yourself. I enjoy feeling good about myself, so I can have a healthy balance between focusing on my goals and focusing on the needs of others.
Rob Sulaver
Building schools for underprivileged kids. Helping elders carry their groceries home. Saving puppies.
Marc Perry
Energy.