Over time, I discovered that along with good food and plenty of rest, the selection of proper exercises is critical to get results.
How I came up with my personal choice is mostly by trial and error. But before going throught what I currently do and why, here’s what I don’t do and why.
- Except for rare exceptions, I don’t do simple or single joint exercises, such as lateral raise, curl or extension. These exercises might be useful for bodybuilders working on symmetry and definition, but won’t give much to me.
- I don’t squat. Probably because of old knee/back injuries, squating was sometimes hurting me. I don’t do something if it hurts.
- I don’t bench press. Even if I have a power rack, so I could bench safely. I don’t bench because I don’t like it. What’s the point of doing something I dislike?
- I don’t do any over head press or pull behind neck. The reason is I get easily injured to my left shoulder… Again because of an old injury.
The list of what I don’t do is rather long. Is there anything left? Of course! Here’s what I do (please refer to this post for an example of a full program).
- I do deadlift. But not with a straight bar. I use a trap bar instead. Probably because of my leg vs torso ratio, it give my back some relief. And because I’m very careful with my knees, I do partial deadlift (I start a couple of inch above floor in my power rack).
- I do dip. Dip is a wonderful exercise. For me, much safer than bench press and no spotters required. It’s a real pleasure to push myself to failure -and beyond- on dip.
- I do chin or pull-up. Another wonderful exercise. Safe and easy to perform. I do chin with a simple pipe screwed on my basement ceiling. In order to limit discomfort to my wrists and forearms, I added a pair of Perfect Handles (Feb-24, 2010 update: it seems Perfectonline.com does not sell handles seperatly anymore. But as of this update, they were still available at some resellers on Amazon.com, for example).
- I do some “accessory” exercises. I do flat bench dumbbell fly; to “finish” my chest after dipping. I also do L-fly to help prevent shoulder injuries. Finally, I also do some abs work.
Until next post, Lift Consciously 