Sunday, December 8, 2013

Training On A Deserted Island

Q: "If you were on a deserted island what would be your exercises of choice ?"

A: One of the best exercises ever in the history of exercises is the "simple" push-up. It's an awesome pressing movement that can be made harder or easier depending on your strength levels. Another cool thing about the push-up is the fact that it is very shoulder friendly when done correctly unlike the bench press which can damage your shoulder even when it's done with good form.

Since we all know that pushing is not enough and quite often we also have to pull things there is need for a pulling movement. I may surprise you but it's not the deadlift - it's the pull-up. It's one of the oldest exercises for your back and biceps and for a good reason - it rocks. Want strong grip ? Do pull-ups ! Want strong back ! Do some more pull-ups ! Want strong arms ? Do even more pull-ups ! Pull-ups work not only your biceps but also the long head of the triceps - that's why sometime you will have sore triceps after doing pull-ups. 

The Salmon ladder is awesome ! 
IronGangsta's third deserted island exercise is also pretty old school and goes by the name running. Yes, running - not squats, deadlifts, power cleans, clean and jerk or whatever else Mark Rippetoe recommends but good old running. Contrary to the popular believe you can build bigger and stronger legs through running and specifically sprinting. Sprinting is an explosive activity similar to lifting weights and bigger muscle do make you a better sprinter. Of course after reaching a certain size the benefits are diminishing but we all know that natural bodybuilders rarely have the problem of being "too big". It's usually being too small that's the issue. Another benefit that comes with running is the improved cardio vascular condition - yes, squats also accomplish that but the last time I checked there are no squat racks in the jungle and it's IronGangsta's choice ;)


There you have it - IronGangsta's Desert Island Exercises