Category: Exercise and fitness

In weight lifting, a press is an exercise movement in which resistance is pushed away from the body. This resistance can be represented by barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, elastic bands, machines, even your own body weight.

There are many exercises that fit this description, such as chest presses, shoulder presses, leg presses, push-ups, and dips, among others. These exercises are performed from different starting positions, but all of them are composed of two phases: a lifting phase in which resistance is pushed (or pressed) away from the body, and a lowering phase when the exerciser brings the weight back close to the body.

In this article I will describe two exercises that targets the chest muscles.

When I say training the core most people think about performing endless crunches or holding a plank forever. One of the most important, and often neglected, movements of the trunk is the rotation. Even though we tend to perform this movement several times during the day without noticing, this movement is not target properly in the gym. Let’s take a look in the muscles involved and a few exercises option to get you stronger in this plane of movement.

A pull is basically the opposite movement of a press. In a pulling exercise, resistance is pulled close to the body, while in a press, resistance is pushed away. These exercises usually mimic movements of climbing and rowing. In general, pulling exercises (for the upper-body) engage the Latissimus dorsi (lats, for short), one of the most important back muscles. Among these exercises are pull-ups, pull-downs, pull-overs and rows, which can be performed using machines, free weights, elastic bands, or body-weight.

Dead-lift is an exercise that engages muscle groups all over the body. The classic dead-lift is nothing more than the movement of lifting a heavy object from the floor. For safety reasons, one should bend the knees keeping a flat back, hold the object, and then lift the body using the legs, not the back. A dead-lift is one of the exercises in power-lifting, but I don’t think any of us here are exactly willing to compete in this kind of event. However, you can incorporate this exercise, or any of its variations, in your workout routine if you use light weights and perform it with caution.

Here is how to perform a classic dead-lift:

A squat is a total body exercise that requires the engagement of several major muscle groups. A squat is basically the movement of sitting on and lifting from an imaginary chair. It is a two-part movement:

1. Lower the body by bending the hips and knees until the thighs are somewhat parallel to the floor.

2. Follow by straightening the hips and knees to come back up.

The “true” work is done on the second half of the movement because you are moving against gravity. However, because there isn’t a real chair behind you, your core muscles come into play holding your body still so you won’t collapse on the floor.