✅ Cable Row Form Tips 1) Use a Thumbless Grip: This helps engage more of your back muscles while minimizing forearm involvement, allowing for better muscle activation. 2) Pull Towards Your Belly Button: If your goal is to target the lats, focus on pulling the handle towards your belly button rather than your chest. This ensures more lat engagement and a stronger contraction. 3) Keep Shoulders Down: To isolate the lats effectively, keep your shoulders down throughout the entire movement. Letting them rise turns the exercise into a shrug, shifting tension to the upper traps instead of the lats. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #cablerows
If you place your feet further in front on the smith machine squat, you'll bias the glutes. If you place your feet directly below the bar, you'll bias the quadriceps. If you place your feet wider apart, you'll bias the inner thigh. If you place your feet higher on the leg press platform, you'll emphasize the glutes. If you place your feet lower, you'll emphasize the quadriceps. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #squat #smithmachinesquats #legpress
Pulldown Variations (Know the Difference!) When doing pulldowns, changing your grip can help you target different back muscles. A medium grip (about 1.5x shoulder width) focuses on the latissimus dorsi. A narrow grip shifts emphasis to the lower lats, while a wide grip targets the upper lats and teres muscles. Using a narrow underhand grip also hits the lower lats, while increasing biceps involvement. If you switch to a rope attachment with a thumbs-down, pinkies-up grip, you’ll engage more of the rear delts. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #latpulldown #latpulldowns #pulldown
If you set the cable pulley low and do low to high cable flies, you'll target more of your upper chest. If you move the pully to chest height, you'll emphasize the middle area of the chest. Setting the cable pulley high and performing high-to-low cable flyes targets more of your lower chest. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #cablefly #cableflys
When performing cable rows, you engage most of your back muscles, but adjusting your grip width can help you emphasize specific areas. A narrow grip with tucked elbows targets the lower back, focusing on the latissimus dorsi. A medium grip (slightly wider than shoulder width) with elbows flared out at about 45 degrees shifts the emphasis to the middle back, engaging the upper lats, lower to middle traps, infraspinatus, and rhomboids. Using a wide grip with elbows flared out to about 90 degrees targets the upper back, including the upper traps and rear delts. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #cablerow #cablerows
✅ Leg Extension Form Tips 1) Eliminate the Knee Gap: Press the back of your knees firmly against the seat pad, leaving no gap. This reduces stress on your knee joints. 2) Maximize Starting Range: Adjust the lever so your tibia (lower leg) starts as far back as possible, creating a small angle between your calves and the seat pad. This increases your range of motion, allowing for a deeper quad stretch and greater muscle growth. 3) Lean Back for a Better Stretch: Position the seat as far back as possible to allow you to recline further. This stretches your quads more effectively, boosting muscle activation and optimizing growth potential. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #legextension #legextensions
If you point your toes inward on the leg curl, you'll target the semitendinosus and semimembranosus. If you point your toes outward, you'll target the biceps femoris long head and short head. If you point your toes up, you'll work the hamstring muscles evenly. If you lean forward, you'll work the hamstrings in a stretched position, which is superior for growth. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #legcurl #legcurls #legcurlmachine
When performing a barbell back row, nearly all the muscles in your back are engaged. However, grip width plays a key role in targeting specific areas. A shoulder-width grip places more emphasis on the lower portion of the back, including the lats. A medium-width grip shifts the focus to the mid-back, working the upper lats, middle traps, and rhomboids. A wide grip emphasizes the upper back, hitting the middle to upper traps and rear delts. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #barbellrow #backrow #barbellrows
Bench Press Grips & Muscles Worked! If you use a narrow grip, you'll work more of your triceps. If you use a medium grip, you'll work your whole chest. If you use an underhand grip, you'll work more of your upper chest. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #benchpress #smithmachine #benchpresstips
4 Dumbbell Bench Press Form Tips 1. Stop rolling your shoulders forward. Keep them retracted to ensure better chest activation and protect your shoulder joints. 2. Maintain a slight arch in your lower back. This improves chest engagement, enhances lift strength, and safeguards your shoulders. 3. Avoid flaring your elbows at 90 degrees. This can stress your shoulders. Instead, aim for a 45-70 degree angle to avoid shoulder injury. 4. Keep your elbows below shoulder level. From a side view, ensure your elbows are slightly lower than your shoulders to avoid shoulder injury. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #dumbbellbenchpress #dumbbellpress #dumbbellchestpress
Hyper Extension Variations (KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!) If you keep your back straight, you'll target the lower back on the hyperextension. If you curl your upper back like this and point your toes outward, you'll target the gluteal muscles. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #hyperextension #hyperextensions
Machine Shoulder Press Variations (KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!) If you use a neutral grip, you'll target the front of the shoulders (anterior deltoid). If you use a pronated grip, you'll work the front and side parts of the shoulders (anterior and lateral deltoid). If you sit backwards and lean forward as you push, you'll shift more emphasis to the side of the shoulders (lateral deltoid). Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #machineshoulderpress #shoulderpress
If you use a narrow grip, you'll target the long head, also known as the outer biceps. If you use a wide grip, you'll target the short head, also known as the inner biceps. If you use a reverse grip, you'll target the brachioradialis on your forearms. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #barbellcurls #barbellcurl
Calf Raise Variations (KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!) If you point your toes outwards, you'll work more of your inner calves. If you point your toes inwards, you'll work more of your outer calves. If you point your toes forward, you'll work the inner and outer calves evenly. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #calfraises #calfraise
When performing a flat dumbbell bench press, you primarily target the entire chest, with some activation in the shoulders. As you incline the bench to around 30 degrees, the upper chest becomes more engaged, and shoulder involvement increases. At 45 degrees, shoulder activation intensifies, while chest engagement begins to decrease. By the time you reach a 70-degree incline, the focus shifts mainly to the shoulders, with minimal chest involvement. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #dumbbellbenchpress #inclinebenchpress #shoulderpress
Push-Up Mistakes (and How to Fix Them) Mistake #1: Using a Wide Hand Placement Placing your hands too wide often forces your elbows to flare out, increasing the risk of shoulder injury. Fix: Use a hand placement that’s just slightly wider than shoulder-width, or at most 1.5 times shoulder-width. Mistake #2: Elevating Your Shoulders Shrugging your shoulders during push-ups shifts tension to your traps, reducing chest engagement. Fix: Keep your shoulders down and relaxed to better target your chest and avoid overusing your traps. Mistake #3: Internally Rotating Your Shoulders Interally rotated shoulders causes most of the weight to be resting on the inner side of your hands, which can lead to instability and elbow flaring. Fix: Actively screw your hands into the ground to externally rotate your shoulders, creating more stability. Mistake #4: Keeping Your Shoulder Blades Retracted at the Top Holding your shoulder blades together at the top limits your range of motion and prevents full chest activation. Fix: Protract your shoulder blades (push them as far apart as possible) at the top of the movement. As you lower your body, retract your shoulder blades to maintain proper form. Extra Tip: Keep your forearms vertical throughout the movement, and avoid letting your elbows flare out to the sides. This ensures better force transfer and reduces strain on your shoulders. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #pushup #pushups
Varying your bench press grip width shifts the focus on different muscle groups. The main muscles involved are the chest, shoulders (specifically the anterior deltoids), and triceps. A narrow grip emphasizes the triceps, but as your grip widens, triceps involvement decreases while chest and shoulder activation increases. A wide grip can actually helps you bench a bit more weight, but it comes with drawbacks—it reduces your range of motion and increases the risk of shoulder injury. Size & Shred Training program → deltabolic.com (link in bio) #benchpress
Lat Pulldown Form Tips 1) Use a thumbless grip – While a full grip isn’t necessarily wrong, a thumbless grip reduces arm involvement and helps isolate the back muscles, leading to better lat activation. 2) Depress your shoulders – As you pull the bar down, focus on driving your shoulders downward to fully engage your lats for a stronger contraction. 3) Slight lean back – Lean back just slightly as you pull, keeping your forearms and pull path aligned to optimize lat engagement and reduce triceps involvement 4) Tuck your elbows – Keep your elbows close to your body during the movement to better isolate and target the lats for maximum muscle activation. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #latpulldown #latpulldowns
Leg Exercise Variations (KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!) If you place the bar high on your traps and keep your torso relatively upright, you'll work more of your quads on the squat. If you place the bar lower on your traps and lean forward as if you are sitting back on a chair, you'll shift more workload to the glutes. If you keep your torso upright on the bulgarian split squat, you'll emphasize the quadriceps. If you lean your torso forward, you'll shift more workload to the glutes. Size & Shred Training program 👉🏻 deltabolic.com (link in bio) #legexercise #legexercises
The conventional standing facepull is excellent for targeting the rear delts, but standing can limit how much weight you can handle since the cable might pull you forward and compromise your balance. To improve this, try kneeling with a slight lean back—this increases your stability and control. For even greater stability, sit on the floor and brace one leg against the pole. This setup prevents the cables from pulling you forward, allowing you to lift heavier weights. Size & Shred Training program → deltabolic.com (link in bio) #facepulls