Top Exercises / And worse!

[ckcrown84]

Alright people, this thread is to point out everyone's favorite exercises and why! Also, to discuss our weakest exercises, why we suck at them, and what we can do to improve!

What is great about this community is our ability to learn from each other and get some good feedback and ideas. So, I hope many people participate and we can all learn some new tricks!

MY TOP
1) Bench Press
why- Trained this exercise the most in my years before getting into serious lifting, it therefore became my strongest and most loved category. Also, I just love the feeling and pump I get from bench.

2) DIPS
why- Dips are great, they can hurt if you do them with your body weight. Or they get a nice deep burn if done weighted. They work a crap ton of muscles (shoulders, chest, triceps) and are great for developing strength.

3) Triceps
Why- I love the pump. I like working them until I feel like I am going to physically pop. I get my kicks... haha

My worse!
Legs
why- I believe because for years in the environment I began lifting in legs were not emphasized, we had to wear jeans anyway! lol. This began a negative cycle because once i went so long without doing them it became easy to ignore them (yes i train them now, but I have a LONG way to go)

Deadlifts
why- No idea! I ignored them in the begining of my working out. But, I do them now and am slowly building up strength. I think my weak hamstrings are a problem so I am going to be fixing that!

Biceps
Right now I HATE biceps. For the past 10 weeks I have had a strange injury in my arms and it has been making biceps hell. One day I may heal...maybe lol

 

[jasoncohenrn]

Deadlifts are one of the BEST exercises out there!!!

 

[ckcrown84]

Deadlifts are one of the BEST exercises out there!!!

Won't argue with that! I am working on making mine better!
I am just, currently, bad at them.

 

[fatsopower]

Love squats! When I started taking squats seriously, all my lifts went up, and my total body muscle development hit another level. I also like straight leg dedz - something about the stretch and after soreness just feels right....

 

[Tuco]

TOP
1. Deadlift - great exercise, I like to do them on the powerlifting rack on the lowest bar setting. I get a great squeeze in all my back, traps, and even a good pump on biceps. I'm not too strong on it though, can only do 405 for 8 reps. I usually start 135x12, 225x12, 315x10, then 405x8.

2. Barbell Squats - I love/hate them but I love the feeling of getting under the bar and testing yourself. I'm trying to work on my squats though, I used to be able to go 405x8 but now I really try to go deep, lower than if I was squatting to sit on a bench, so now I can only go to 365x8. I also barely started using a belt and it's kind of weird using it, I actually feel stronger without it.

WORST
1. I really don't have an exercise that I hate or completely suck at compared to other movements, if I had to choose one though, it would probably be military barbell press. I don't like to take the barbell only to the top of my head and then press, which I see a lot in my gym, I like to take the bar below my chin and press back up but that significantly makes me use less weight. I just feel like I'm too weak on that movement and avoid it. I only press 135x10, 145x10, 155x8-10.

 

[WINSTON]

i wasa built for deadlifts myself . i hated trining arms disliked a bicep pump . so i dint became a competitive bodybuilder . a bodybuilder need great arms . i think .

 

[ckcrown84]

WORST
1. I really don't have an exercise that I hate or completely suck at compared to other movements, if I had to choose one though, it would probably be military barbell press. I don't like to take the barbell only to the top of my head and then press, which I see a lot in my gym, I like to take the bar below my chin and press back up but that significantly makes me use less weight. I just feel like I'm too weak on that movement and avoid it. I only press 135x10, 145x10, 155x8-10.

That was my problem with legs / deadlifts
Easy to avoid the things we are lacking at.

Tip: if you enjoy deadlifts. but hate military press, maybe you can combine the two. Do a power clean and press. I don't know, just a thought.

Also, the barbell press should go either to the chin or to the chest. Personally I am a big fan of doing them in a smith machine, great for building a very solid base. Plus with the proper bench you can control the angle which you sit, which I prefer to artificially arching your back when you have a straight up and down seat--which is what people automatically do when doing heavy weight.

 

[JUSTRIGHT]

CK,
I have seen your benching videos, if I was throwing up 405 bench would be my favorite too. Great job btw.
Favorites
Incline bench
Tri's
Back( i love the rows)
Like you you deadlifts are a weakness!

 

[ckcrown84]

CK,
I have seen your benching videos, if I was throwing up 405 bench would be my favorite too. Great job btw.
Favorites
Incline bench
Tri's
Back( i love the rows)
Like you you deadlifts are a weakness!

haha thanks bro.
I am steadily working on getting everything up to par.
Like I said I want to start competing next year.

 

[USMC]

My strengths:
Legs- Even though I don't work them much I've always had very strong legs, prob from all the running we have to do.
Decine bench- I'm routinely much stronger here than at flat or incline. For example I can decline 75's all day and can work out with 100's, but on incline 75's will wear me out and forget that last set.
Tri's- Love cable pulldowns, presses, db overhead extensions and dips. Def the best, largest and strongest on my arms compared to bi's by a long shot.

Weakness:
Incline bench- as shown above
Bi's- At least IMO. I can do weighted dips with a 45 plate all day but only working out with 45's on a seated curl.
Ab's- I'm weak, that is all. Lol. Guess it's because it just looks so Yoga/Wierd/Fruity to do a mat routine. I'll do crunches, even decline's holding a plate, and side benders on the cables. But other than that anything else just feels "wierd" or useless. Dunno.

 

[ckcrown84]

HAHA i do abs on those ball things sometimes, yes i feel a little fruity! But it damn sure works

 

[ThreeGigs]

Favorites:
Lat pulldowns with a neutral grip bar. I worked in with a guy using a neutral grip bar one day awhile back, and didn't bother to switch it out for the straight bar. The difference for me was huge, it was the first time I really felt strong lat contraction, and felt my lats get pumped.
Dumbbell speed rows. I've been adding high-tempo work, but once I started doing fast DB rows, I kept moving up in weight. I crank up the music in the headphones, and do reps to the beat, usually 1 rep per second-ish. Yes, that means I actually have to PUSH DOWN hard on the DB so I can get it up and back down within one beat of the music.
DB pullovers. I don't know why I love these, I just do. I can't decide if they work mostly chest, lats or shoulders, and I don't really care. I do them on chest days sometimes, and I do them on back days with the same DB I just finished rowing with. And full ROM, I let the DB touch the floor behind the bench I'm laying on. And when I'm done I set the DB on my chest, hold it there, lock my feet under the footpegs on the bench and do a slow situp with the extra 50 kilos on my sternum. My blood pressure shoots up so much I feel it in my earlobes.

Worst:
Standing military press. I can do a whopping (sarcasm) 43 kilos (95 lbs) for 8 - 10 reps. I did something to my right bicep about a year ago, and now I feel it every time I do these. Yeah, I typed it right... I feel a mild pain in my right BICEP while pressing overhead. Plus, I think I have impingement issues. Those things kill my shoulders. DB presses are just as bad, unless I do them Arnold style, but even then I feel bad things happening in my right shoulder.
Deadlifts. Deads scare me a bit, I'm always worried about my back. Plus it's a pain in the ass putting a bar together and then putting everything away again. But, I make myself do them.
Legs, in general. I dislike leg days. I'm not very flexible, can't even come near touching my toes (which is why I made being able to touch my toes a New Year's Resolution this year). So at the bottom of squats my back starts to round. Plus.. the whole difficulty walking thing the next day and all.
Core. My core training is sorely lacking. Yeah, I do cardio on the rowing machine a lot, and lean back pretty far when I do, but other than that and some cable punches, I don't do any direct core work.

 

[ckcrown84]

Favorites:
Lat pulldowns with a neutral grip bar. I worked in with a guy using a neutral grip bar one day awhile back, and didn't bother to switch it out for the straight bar. The difference for me was huge, it was the first time I really felt strong lat contraction, and felt my lats get pumped.
Dumbbell speed rows. I've been adding high-tempo work, but once I started doing fast DB rows, I kept moving up in weight. I crank up the music in the headphones, and do reps to the beat, usually 1 rep per second-ish. Yes, that means I actually have to PUSH DOWN hard on the DB so I can get it up and back down within one beat of the music.
DB pullovers. I don't know why I love these, I just do. I can't decide if they work mostly chest, lats or shoulders, and I don't really care. I do them on chest days sometimes, and I do them on back days with the same DB I just finished rowing with. And full ROM, I let the DB touch the floor behind the bench I'm laying on. And when I'm done I set the DB on my chest, hold it there, lock my feet under the footpegs on the bench and do a slow situp with the extra 50 kilos on my sternum. My blood pressure shoots up so much I feel it in my earlobes.

Worst:
Standing military press. I can do a whopping (sarcasm) 43 kilos (95 lbs) for 8 - 10 reps. I did something to my right bicep about a year ago, and now I feel it every time I do these. Yeah, I typed it right... I feel a mild pain in my right BICEP while pressing overhead. Plus, I think I have impingement issues. Those things kill my shoulders. DB presses are just as bad, unless I do them Arnold style, but even then I feel bad things happening in my right shoulder.
Deadlifts. Deads scare me a bit, I'm always worried about my back. Plus it's a pain in the ass putting a bar together and then putting everything away again. But, I make myself do them.
Legs, in general. I dislike leg days. I'm not very flexible, can't even come near touching my toes (which is why I made being able to touch my toes a New Year's Resolution this year). So at the bottom of squats my back starts to round. Plus.. the whole difficulty walking thing the next day and all.
Core. My core training is sorely lacking. Yeah, I do cardio on the rowing machine a lot, and lean back pretty far when I do, but other than that and some cable punches, I don't do any direct core work.

DB Pullovers are legit, I don't touch the floor as you do though. Keep up good work.

As for your bicep pain, I understand 100% I have injuries in my left bicep and I feel all sorts of pain when I do shoulder press, curls, and a few other exercises (e.g. pullups). Some days I can man threw it, other days I pull my bitch card and give up before I hurt myself.

 

[ThreeGigs]

That's the odd part, ck. I *don't* feel anything worth mentioning when I do curls. The only time I really feel it is when pressing... the time you'd think the biceps were least activated. I'm fairly sure it's associated with shoulder stability. I know one of the heads inserts into the rotator cuff area, and I'm guessing that's the culprit. It's been that way for almost a year now, with no signs of lessening / improving any more than it did in the beginning. No idea what to do for it or how to correct it without spending a ton of money on scans and / or surgery.

 

[ckcrown84]

That's the odd part, ck. I *don't* feel anything worth mentioning when I do curls. The only time I really feel it is when pressing... the time you'd think the biceps were least activated. I'm fairly sure it's associated with shoulder stability. I know one of the heads inserts into the rotator cuff area, and I'm guessing that's the culprit. It's been that way for almost a year now, with no signs of lessening / improving any more than it did in the beginning. No idea what to do for it or how to correct it without spending a ton of money on scans and / or surgery.

Odd bro... Mine has been messed up for like 9+ weeks. I am hoping for a recovery, eventually. If not, well oh well. Chalk it up to the perils of battle.

 

[triplstep]

Favorite moves

Front Squats.
Nobody, and I mean nobody in the gym hits this move, and when this oldtimer gets under a bar with two wheels a side, I become the beast of the moment. I love the move for everything is does to my body. Performing this move for only two years has changed my game huge, and I don't know why all serious lifters don't add it to their plan.

Deadlifts.
Goes without saying how valuable a lift it is. The central nervous system gets wrecked with this move, and with proper post nutrition, growth is guaranteed.

3rd is a tie (can I have a tie) between farmer's walks and cleans.
They both fatigue the shit out of me. And they hit my favorite body parts, forearms and traps.

Least favorite

Pull ups.
I suck at these, they never feel right, but I am hitting them regularly since the first of the year.

Barbell rows
I choose using dumbells over barbells, but have been persuaded to incorporate the move. I don't like the position of my back while doing this move.

Barbell bench of any kind. (this should of been 1)
Put me out of commision with a shoulder injury many years ago. I use dumbells now regularly, with no problems, doing flat and inclines.

 

[gtbmed]

I'm going to be a bit contrarian and say that I hate deads.

They're hard to recover from, slow, and from my experience not as good as squats.

My favorites are squats and chins.

 

[nova1970sb]

fav, deads. because for my size i feel like i can lift quite a bit
2nd fav, squats. the idea of being challenged under the weight gets my blood pumping!
least fav, bench press. i can get my body weight 5 times, but not having a spotter keeps me from going to my limit.

 

[MULCH63]

I would say my fav is Deads and Squats. I also love getting the juices flowing with these two. Just Thurs I finished my squatting for 8 of 295 and it felt great !! Rested two min and cranked another 8 of 275. Hell @ 48 190lbs always natural (until last week) I feel great.

Bench gotta be my dread. Suck at it and always I mean ALWAYS have shoulder or elbow pain. Man I had elbows done and an A/C joint done. All from @#$%^& Bench !!

 

[Caretaker]

Best: Any bicep excercise. I love the swell and pump of my bis trying to tear my shirt sleeve. LOL
Worst: Squats. I hate to puke and every time I do squats PROPERLY/ALL OUT, I barely make it to the garbage can and puke. It takes it`s toll on every muscle in your body and you feel like you got hit by a train the next day but they WORK!!!!!!!!!

 

[ThreeGigs]

Favorite moves
Front Squats.
Nobody, and I mean nobody in the gym hits this move, and when this oldtimer gets under a bar with two wheels a side, I become the beast of the moment. I love the move for everything is does to my body. Performing this move for only two years has changed my game huge, and I don't know why all serious lifters don't add it to their plan.

I know that feeling. I do a bunch of 'oddball' exercises. Like a glute bridge and glute-ham raises. When I do GHRs on the lat pulldown seat, I get some odd looks, but I'm one of only 3 people at the gym who do them. One's a trainer who has to be 60 years old and is built like a tank, the other is some kind of Spetsnaz or special forces guy. But I'm still the only guy doing glute bridges. Might as well do them as long as I have a bar set up for deadlifts.

 

[MrKeenan]

Best:
Deadlifts: Used to have big problems with them a while back as I was inexperienced and did them with a bent back so steered clear of them till about 3 months back. With proper form and heavy weight I can see a major difference in my back already.

Bench press: I had a machine bench press when I was 14 till I first hit the gym at 16 so I ended up with a disproportioned chest to the rest of my body. This meaning I was much stronger on chest its just my silly lagging arms that hold me back from much bigger lifts

EZ Bar wide grip pull down: Something my arms still haven't adapted to. Get an intense squeeze. I always bring them quite a few inches in front of me rather than by my waist

Worst:
Leg Press: Its not that I find it a bad exercise, its just the daunting feeling of having to do them on leg day as they are what works best for me.

Barbell shoulder press: This only recently as I can never seem to get consistent stimulation with the exercise. One week it'll feel great, another it'll feel terrible, but maybe I just have some sort of rotator cuff injury

Anything bicep related: They just don't grow like everything else, I've literally tried everything. I see progress in my tri's yet biceps never.

 

[njd84]

Best:
Deadlifts, probably my favorite. Am making constant progress and will probably break 600lbs at 198 in the next 6 months. However my right rib that I injured last Spring acts up sometimes and makes deads painful but as time goes on it is less and less a problem

Squat: My squat has been blowing up just like my DL. Again if my progress continues I will break 600lbs sometime this year. Am a bit worried about my knees and they are getting creaky at times but I look forward to any squat day.

Worst:
Anything bicep related. I just don't care about biceps. I do hammer curls once a week and I could careless about. Not in it for the image thing but love lifting heavy stuff and biceps curls is not where it's at for me.

Good Mornings: Never really did them until recent. They are helping my squat and DL ALOT! but I just don't like doing them. They feel awkward for me and for what ever reason my brain can't put the movement together. Am going to keep working on them as they have already gotten better in the last month of doing them.

 

[Sabrina21]

I also like straight leg dedz - something about the stretch and after soreness just feels right

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[Powermaster]

Best: Squats & Deadlifts
Worst: Bench - I was decent at one time doing 420 for doubles but shoulder pain got progressively worse so I had to back off quite a bit. Rarely bench over 300 anymore.

 

[sofargone561]

my most hated work out will be bench, most chest workous actually. my legs are my strongest point and i have amazing genetics for huge legs but i fucked up my knees in action sports when i was much younger so i can push heavy weight on certain exersices. Its funny when me and my friend get on the leg press my legs are 2 times the size of his and he is pushing 3 times the weight becuase my knees cant hang.

my favorite workout... i really have no idea, i would say its anything the my calves becuase they are pretty beast lol or anything involving bi/tri when im on cycle with the prov, the pumps are fantastic.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Favorite = Deadlifts

Exercise i'll never do = dumbell kickbacks

 

[ckcrown84]

Favorite = Deadlifts

Exercise i'll never do = dumbell kickbacks

For me DB Kicksbacks are a waste of time. But, that is my opinion and depending on what level of training you are at would really be a factor.

 

[ckcrown84]

p.s. some of you guys should hop on this contest I am sponsoring (This is my thread so I shall advertise if I want
http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/g...re-com-fake-before-after-picture-contest.html

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