Your Ultimate Body Transformation Plan
Page 7
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01 Lie on a flat bench holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height.
02 Keep your feet flat on the floor and upper back against the bench.
03 Press the weight straight up.
04 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Squeeze your shoulder-blades back and down as you lower the weight, and as you raise the weight focus on keeping a high ribcage by not pushing through the shoulders.
DUMBBELL NECK PRESS
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01 Lie on a flat bench holding a dumbbell in each hand either side of your neck.
02 Keep your feet flat on the floor and upper back against the bench.
03 Press the weight straight up.
04 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
You’re putting your shoulders in a vulnerable position with this exercise so please don’t try to go too hardcore with the weight that you’re lifting. Be methodical and controlled, focus on a non-ballistic stretch at the bottom and a hard contraction at the top of each movement.
DUMBBELL SKULL-CRUSHER
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01 Lie on a flat bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with arms straight.
02 Slowly lower the weights down towards your face by bending your elbows, but keep them pointing straight up.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Only move the weight from the elbow, don’t throw it up like you’re chucking a ball as far as it will go.
DUMBBELL UPRIGHT ROW
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01 Stand with your chest up holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip.
02 Leading with your elbows, pull the weights up until your hands are level with the top of your chest.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Pull the dumbbells out to your side rather than simply ‘up’ and in front of your body. It may force you to use a lighter weight but you will hit the all-important side deltoids much more effectively.
DUMBBELL WRIST CURL
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01 Stand with your chest up holding a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing forward.
02 Curl your wrists up towards your forearms.
03 Slowly return to the start.
EZ-BAR PREACHER CURL
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01 Sit at a preacher bench holding an EZ-bar with an underhand grip.
02 Keeping your elbows on the bench, curl the bar up towards your chin.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Keep your shoulders down throughout the movement rather than lifting them up to the sky. This will better isolate the target biceps muscles.
EZ-BAR REVERSE CURL
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01 Sit tall with your chest up holding an EZ-bar with an overhand grip.
02 Keeping your elbows by your sides, curl the bar up towards your chin.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
If you go too heavy your elbows will flare out and the exercise will lose effectiveness. Keep your upper arm locked in tight to your side, and only bend at the elbow rather than also moving from the shoulder to bring the bar up towards the face as this will do nothing other than fatigue your rotator cuff and anterior deltoids.
FRONT SQUAT
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01 Stand tall with your chest up, with a barbell resting on the front of your shoulders, gripping it with either your elbows pointing forward or your hands crossed in front of your shoulders.
02 Keeping your chest up and core braced, squat down until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor.
03 Powerfully return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
There is no excuse for a full range of motion on this exercise. Ensure that your hamstrings always touch your calves, and if you find yourself going up on your toes as you go down into the squat then elevate the heels on a small board or a pair of 5kg weight plates.
GLUTE-HAM RAISE
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01 Following its instructions, position yourself correctly and safely on the machine.
02 Slowly lower your torso down, bending at the hips, until you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings.
03 Powerfully return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
If you don’t have this machine in your gym then a way to mimic the movement is to do a Nordic curl where a partner holds the back of your legs and from a kneeling position you lower your torso to the floor while locking your hips forwards in extension (i.e. you don’t push your buttocks back).
HALF-DEADLIFT WITH SHRUG
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01 With the barbell resting on the floor, squat down and take an overhand grip with your core braced, and shoulder-blades retracted.
02 Keeping your core braced, push down through your heels to lift the bar up.
03 Then, keeping your arms straight, shrug the bar up so your shoulders move towards your ears.
04 Reverse back to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Better still, use a squat rack with the safety bars set to knee level. Don’t bounce the weight off the safety bars. Instead allow the bar to settle for just one second before recommencing lifting.
HAMMER-GRIP CHIN-UP
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01 Hold the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing.
02 Start from a dead hang with your arms fully extended.
03 Pull yourself up so your chin goes over the bar by squeezing your lats.
04 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Otherwise known as a semi-supinated grip chin-up, it is easy to bang out a lot of half reps on this movement and very hard to get perfect ones. If you can’t get that chest to the bar then there are rotator cuff muscle extras for free download at www.UltimateTransformation.Guide.
INCLINE BENCH PRESS
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01 Lie on an incline bench with your feet on the floor, directly underneath your knees.
02 Hold the bar with an overhand wide grip.
03 Slowly lower the bar to your chest, until it almost touches your nipples.
04 Press back strongly to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Keep your shoulder-blades pushed back and down throughout the whole movement. It is very easy to try to ‘force’ this movement by pushing through the upper back, and this puts your shoulders in a more vulnerable position.
HANGING LEG RAISE
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01 Hang from a bar with an overhand grip and your body straight.
02 Keeping your knees locked, use your lower abs to raise your legs up until they are parallel with the ground.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Don’t just keep your feet together, also push your knees together as it better isolates the abdominal muscles.
INCLINE DUMBBELL FLYE
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01 Lie on a bench set at an incline angle holding a dumbbell in each hand with arms straight.
02 Keep your feet flat on the floor and your back against the bench.
03 Keeping a slight bend in your elbow, slowl
y lower the weights out to the side.
04 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Your mantra on this movement is to stretch and squeeze. And do it as hard as you possibly can.
INCLINE DUMBBELL TRICEPS EXTENSION
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01 Lie on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with arms straight.
02 Slowly lower the weights down towards the top of your head by bending your elbows, but keep them pointing straight up.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Don’t let the elbows flare out too much and do not ‘throw’ the weight up. Lock the upper arm in one stable position and hold it there, only moving the weight from the elbow joint and not the shoulder.
INCLINE GYM BALL PLANK
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01 Assume a plank position with your forearms resting on a gym ball with legs straight.
02 Maintain a straight line from head to heels, keeping your core braced and not letting your hips sag.
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NICK'S TIP
Squeeze your glutes as hard as possible throughout the entire set. Put a stopwatch on the floor right in front of your eyes so that you can count down (and beat!) your target.
INCLINE REVERSE DUMBBELL ROW
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01 Lie chest-first on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing.
02 Keeping your chest on the bench, lift the weights up by retracting your shoulderblades, leading with your elbows.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
You are not merely pulling the weight back with your arms, you are in fact trying to arc your arm back as if you are starting an outboard motor on a boat or a petrol-powered lawn-mower.
INCLINE REVERSE LATERAL RAISE
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01 Lie chest-first on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing.
02 Keeping your chest on the bench, lift the weights up and out to the side, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Try internally rotating (turning the hands down so that the thumbs point at the floor) the dumbbells to better isolate your rear deltoids.
INCLINE REVERSE ONE-ARM ARC ROW
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01 Placing your knee and non-working hand on an incline bench for support, hold a dumbbell in one hand with the palm facing in.
02 Slowly pull the dumbbell up towards your chest, arcing your arm back and concentrating on squeezing your back rather than letting your bicep do the work.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
While this is a very similar movement to a regular row, I want you to exaggerate the arcing motion so that all the movement is initiated from your latissimus dorsi muscle and not your biceps.
KNEELING CLOSE-GRIP EZ-BAR CURL
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01 Kneel down holding an EZ-bar in front of you with a narrow underhand grip.
02 Keeping your elbows by your sides, curl the bar up towards your chin.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
You’re kneeling down so that the movement becomes extremely strict. Keep it that way and forget about the weight that you’re lifting; instead only focus on squeezing the biceps as hard as possible and keeping the wrists slightly cocked back so that you can isolate the biceps.
LEAN-AWAY PULL-UP
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01 Hold the bar with an overhand grip with your hands shoulder-width apart.
02 Start from a dead hang with your arms fully extended and your torso leaning backwards away from the bar.
03 Pull yourself up so your chest reaches the bar by squeezing your lats.
04 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
This is a tough exercise. If you find yourself struggling with it do a regular-style positive rep and then do the lean away component only on the negative portion.
LEG PRESS
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01 Sit on the machine, following its instructions to position yourself correctly and safely.
02 Release the lock, then slowly lower the platform towards you by bending your knees.
03 Push through your heels to straighten your legs and return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Never ever lock out the knees on this exercise; 90 per cent of full leg extension is sufficient. It makes the movement safer and more effective.
LYING HAMSTRING CURL (TOES IN*)
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01 Lie on the machine, following its instructions to position yourself correctly and safely.
02 With the pad against the back of your lower calves and toes pointing inwards, raise it up by contracting your hamstrings.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Keep your hips pushed down into the bench in order to maximise hamstring recruitment.
* or dorsiflexed (toes up to shin)
LYING HAMSTRING CURL (TOES OUT*)
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01 Lie on the machine, following its instructions to position yourself correctly and safely.
02 With the pad against the back of your lower calves and toes pointing outwards, raise it up by contracting your hamstrings.
03 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
You will be weaker on this movement than with the toes-up version because it takes your calves out of the exercise. This is counterintuitive, though, as at first your calves may want to cramp simply because of how we are neurologically wired. After a workout or two this will go away as new nervous system patterns set in.
* plantar-flexed (toes away from shin)
LYING SIDEWAYS DUMBBELL PULLOVER
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01 Lie side on to a bench with your upper back supported with feet flat on the floor.
02 Hold a single dumbbell with both hands over your chest.
03 Slowly lower the weight behind your head, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
04 Return the weight back to the start by raising the weight back over your ribcage with straight arms.
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NICK'S TIP
Focus on keeping your shoulderblades pushed down towards your mid-back and upper arms close and tight to your body. Aim to initiate this movement using your upper back rather than pulling through the chest and triceps.
MACHINE SQUAT
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01 Stand in the machine, following its instructions to position yourself correctly and safely.
02 Release the lock, then slowly bend your knees to squat down to the bottom.
03 Push through your heels to straighten your legs and return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Try not to push through your toes and instead push for the outer part of the sole of your foot.
NEUTRAL SHOULDER-WIDTH LAT PULL-DOWN
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01 Sit on the machine and take an overhand, shoulder-width grip on a bar attached to the high pulley cable.
02 Retract your shoulder-blades and keep your core braced.
03 Pull the bar down in front of you until it reaches your upper chest.
04 Squeeze your lats at the
bottom of the move.
05 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
Keep telling yourself ‘chest up’ at all times! You need to be able to squeeze your shoulderblades as hard as possible and you cannot do that if you are rounding your shoulders.
PEC DIP
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01Grip parallel bars, then lean forward as far as you can while keeping your core braced.
02With your elbows pointing straight back, lower your body down slowly as deep as you can.
03Press back up powerfully to return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
For best pectoral activation tuck your chin onto your chest and do not lock out at the top of the movement.
REVERSE INCLINE HAMMER CURL
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01 Lie chest-first on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing.
02 Keeping your chest on the bench, curl the weights up to shoulder height.
03 Squeeze your biceps at the top of the move.
04 Slowly return to the start.
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NICK'S TIP
You’ll desperately want to draw your elbows back as you raise the weight. Don’t do this and instead focus on keeping the upper arm pointed down perpendicular to the floor. The only time your arms can be drawn back is as you start to fatigue and want to eke out an extra rep or two, but remember that this is (good) cheating and the reps can’t count towards your total!
SEATED BEHIND-THE-NECK PRESS
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01 Sit on an upright bench holding a bar behind your neck with a shoulder-width grip.
02 Keep your chest upright and your core muscles braced.