“‘Mark, I appreciate how candid you are in these Sunday With Sisson posts. I get several weekly emails; yours is the one I rush to read because you make great posts about real life stuff. Of course everything you write about nutrition and exercise is spot on. But I really like the window you open to your own life in these Sunday With Sisson posts. Thanks for doing this every week.“
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57-kilogram powerlifter Natalie Richards is making strength gains in preparation for her next meet, and she’s looking like she may break records. On May 4, 2023, Richards posted a video of herself setting a PR by squatting 179.1 kilograms (395 pounds) in training.
That was 1.5 pounds over her personal best in competition, which was 178.4 kilograms (393.5 pounds) at the 2022 Carolina Primetime meet in October.
Richards had two spotters waiting to assist her if necessary. After unracking the bar and walking the weight out, Richards stood in a conventional stance, took in a breath, and descended into the hole quickly. After going below parallel, Richards struggled out of the hole with her knees coming in slightly. Nonetheless, she stood tall with the weight and smiled before returning the barbell to the rack.
She was wearing basic knee sleeves, wrist wraps, and a weightlifting belt for this one-rep set. In the post caption, and in a subsequent video reel, she shared that she also performed a set of four reps with 161 kilograms (355 pounds). One of the more-than-860 likes for Instagram post came from fellow powerlifter and multiple world-record holder John Haack.
Richards’ most recent meet was the 2023 AMP Classic National Championships, which were held in Austin, TX on Feb. 24, 2023. Her deadlift at that meet was a personal record, and her best lifts at that meet totaled to over 500 kilograms, making her the first 57-kilogram lifter to achieve that milestone in a Powerlifting America (AMP) sanctioned meet. Her lifts on that day were as follows.
Richards is preparing to break and set new all-time world records at the IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships, which will be held on the week of June 11-18 in Valetta, Malta. Competition at the meet will be significant, as veteran lifters including Bobbie Butters (current 57kg squat World Record holder) and Jade Jacob (current 57kg deadlift and total World Record holder) are expected to compete as well.
According to Open Powerlifting, Richards has been competing since 2019. If she competes in the IPF World Classic, it will be her first appearance in an international meet. All 12 of her previous meets had been in the United States and she has come home with 10 first-place awards.
As you begin a ketogenic diet, grocery shopping may become a confusing task. You may begin to question each item, unsure if it supports or hinders your new eating approach. Is this the right kind of fat? What cut of meat should I be buying? Does this constitute “very low carb?”
I created this guide to simplify your trip to the grocery store. Of course, don’t feel like you have to buy every item listed. See these as options to get you started. As you learn what you like and don’t like, and what your version of keto looks like, you can customize as you go along.
Here’s a breakdown by section in the typical grocery store or farmer’s market. I also suggest considering online resources for good deals to fit your budget, as well as co-ops and community supported agriculture (CSAs) shares.
Produce (Fresh or Frozen)
All vegetables are “allowed” on keto. The trick is finding the ones that have the fewest carbs and, hence, the most bang for your macro buck. Fruit is harder to include because of the relatively high sugar content, but it’s not strictly forbidden. Thus, there is some nuance to choosing the most keto-friendly produce options. Here are some of my favorites to get you started, but it’s not an all-inclusive list:
Leafy Greens
Arugula
Beet greens
Dandelion greens
Endive
Lettuce (romaine, red, green, bibb, etc.)
Mustard greens
Purslane
Spinach
Swiss chard
Watercress
Cruciferous Veggies
Bok choy
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage (red and green)
Cauliflower
Collard greens
Kale
Other Produce
Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocados
Bell peppers
Berries
Broccolini
Chili peppers
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Fiddlehead ferns
Garlic
Green beans
Leeks
Lemons
Limes
Mushrooms (all varieties)
Okra
Olives
Onions (green, red, white, yellow)
Rhubarb
Spaghetti squash
Sprouts
Summer squash
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Fermented vegetables (refrigerated)
Pickles
Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Meats/Fish/Eggs
Prioritize pastured, grass-fed, or organic meat and wild-caught seafood when possible.
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On Apr. 30, 2023, powerlifter Laura Sancho shared an Instagram clip of herself scoring a 263-kilogram (579.8-pound) raw deadlift during the 2023 Global Powerlifting Committee-Great Britain (GPC-GB) Welsh Championships in Swansea, Wales. The power milestone is not only an all-time raw competition best for the athlete, it is a British Record in the 82-kilogram division.
Sancho wore just a lifting belt in terms of assistive equipment to help her with the monstrous pull. She used a conventional stance with a mixed grip. The athlete’s massive deadlift helped her eventually take home a first-place performance in her weight class.
According to her personal page on Open Powerlifting, Sancho only started featuring as a competitive powerlifter relatively recently.
The athlete made her debut on a sanctioned lifting platform during a victory in the 2021 GPC-GB Scottish Championship. Sancho has competed primarily with wraps, potentially making her raw British Record pull even more exceptional in context. The powerlifter is undefeated in six career official appearances (five as an 82-kilogram competitor and one as a 75-kilogram athlete).
Here’s an overview of Sancho’s all-time sanctioned powerlifting history:
Laura Sancho | Competitive History
2021 GPC-GB Scottish Championship (Wraps/82KG) — First place
2021 GPC-GB British Finals (Wraps/75KG) — First place
2022 GPC-GB British Finals (Wraps/82KG) — First place
2022 GPC-Scotland Sultans of Squat (Wraps/82KG) — First place
2022 GPC-Scotland Bench Gathering (Raw/82KG) — First place
2023 GPC-GB Welsh Championships (Wraps/82KG) — First place
Here’s an overview of Sancho’s all-time best competition stats:
In her Instagram post, Sancho seemed to beam with energy over achieving this high-water deadlift mark. For an elite powerlifter like her, such an appreciative and thrilled reaction is more than understandable after reaching her goals.
Better yet, more staggering milestones might be on the way soon enough.
“I’m still buzzing,” Sancho wrote. “As I said in November, it won’t be mine long because there’s a queue of units coming, but for now, lemme taste it just a little bit more.”
Anyone interested in building muscle, getting stronger, and improving their balance and ability to perform athletically and generate lots of force should consider training with the landmine barbell attachment. In my opinion, there’s no better fusion of free and machine weights. You get the freedom of free weights, but along a spectrum of available pathways. You have boundaries you can’t cross, but total freedom within those lines. Plus, landmine training introduces variety and fun into the weight room. Many people discount those factors, or even claim they’re actively harmful to a workout, but variety and fun can make training more consistent. And as long as the workouts are effective, consistency is king.
If you hate exercising, you’ll eventually find excuses to give up.
How to Set Up a Landmine Workout
There are two types of landmine setups.
You can stick one end of a barbell in the corner of the room, wedging it into the intersection of two walls. This leaves the other end free to load with weight and lift and move, using the end in the corner as a pivot point.
You can get a landmine attachment that attaches to the squat rack, power cage, or weight plate laying on the ground. You slot one end of the barbell into the landmine attachment and load the other end with weight, then lift it. Using an attachment allow you greater range of motion and better pivoting than using the corner, but both methods are effective.
Once you’ve got the setup going, you can start doing the landmine exercises. I recommend the following ones.
1. Landmine Press
The landmine press is a multifaceted exercise that serves multiple purposes, strengthening both the deltoids and smaller supportive shoulder muscles, improving shoulder stability and mobility, and even acting as a rehab tool. Depending on how you focus your energy during the movement, you can target the delta, triceps, traps, and your core musculature. For people with shoulder pain issues, the landmine press is a great way to strengthen the most common culprits—rotator cuff and serratus muscles. Many people who have trouble loading their shoulders with heavy overhead barbell or dumbbell work due to limited mobility or previous injuries find they can get a great shoulder workout with the landmine press. In fact, I’d say it’s the safest “open chain” shoulder exercise, a bit of a happy medium between free weights and machines. ,
There are two “main” variations of the landmine press. The strict landmine press aims to isolate the primary shoulder muscles, promote shoulder stability and build raw strength (including core strength). Get into a half-kneeling position with one knee down and the other foot planted flat on the ground in front of you. Hold the end of a loaded barbell (with the other end anchored in a landmine attachment or corner) in the hand on the same side as the kneeling leg. Keep everything tight and press the barbell upward in a controlled manner, keeping your elbow under your hand and minimizing torso movement. Lower the weight back to the starting position and repeat the process for as many reps as you want, then switch sides.
The second variation emphasizes full shoulder extension to target the assisting musculature around the shoulder joint. You start the same way—kneeling, one foot on the ground in front of you, bar in hand on the kneeling side—but when pressing up you focus on fully extending your reach, upwardly rotating your scapula and really engaging the traps, serratus, and rotator cuff muscles in addition to the deltoids. the same half-kneeling position, but this time, focus on fully extending the shoulder overhead, allowing the scapula to upwardly rotate, and engaging the serratus anterior, trapezius, It’s a great way to get strong and get healthy. Go heavier for strength, lighter for rehab.
The two variations exist on a spectrum, and you can certainly incorporate aspects from both versions into your workouts.
2. Landmine Push Press
Push presses are a more dynamic or “athletic” version of the strict press that encourages power development and incorporates the lower body, including glutes, quads, and calves. By using the push, you can load more weight onto the bar and focus on speed and strength rather than just strength. Anyone interested in generating lots of force in a short amount of time can benefit from the landmine push press.
The landmine push press is p erformed standing in a staggered stance. Hold the barbell with one hand on the same side as the back foot. Slightly bend the knee of the back foot and then explode upward, pushing with the back leg and pressing the bar overhead.
The staggered stance is a more athletic stance, and using the back leg to push makes it a unilateral movement. In my opinion, unilateral lifts translate well to athletic movements—most dynamic movements in sports or the real world are unilateral rather than bilateral. Think running, sprinting, throwing a punch, swinging a baseball bat.
3. Landmine Curtsy Lunge
Like any other lunge, the landmine curtsy lunge is a nice unilateral movement that loads the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. Where it differs is in the direction you’re lunging. Instead of just lunging up, you lunge up and against. You lean into the bar, pressing into it as you rise up from the lunge, creating an interesting stimulus for the glutes and quads you can’t get with other lunge variations.
Stand next to the bar, your body parallel to it, holding it with two hands or letting it rest in the crook of your inner arm. Keeping your elbows tucked in and your posture straight and upright, lunge by taking the inside leg and reaching it back and to the outside, as if you’re curtsying. Try to minimize the amount of weight the curtsying leg bears. Come back up by pressing through the ground. You may find it’s more natural to “lean” toward the bar, pressing into it. That’s by design and I mean you’re doing the exercise correctly.
4. Landmine Row
The one armed landmine row is a deceiving total body exercise. In addition to hitting the rear deltoids, lats, biceps, rhomboids, and erector spinae, it’s also a challenge for your grip, since the end of the barbell is so much thicker than a dumbbell. It’s almost as good a core and grip workout as it is a back and arm workout.
To perform the landmine row, face away from the bar with your feet about shoulder width apart, your hips hinged, your back flat, and the bar on the outside of your legs. Bend your knees slightly and hinge your hips and reach back with your butt until you can grab the bar with one hand, then row it up. To engage your back muscles, think of shooting your elbow up toward the sky. To make it more of an arm workout, think about engaging and flexing your bicep.
If you have trouble activating your lats and rear delts during traditional rows with barbells or dumbbells, you may find it easier to engage those muscles with the one arm landmine row. The “elbows up to the sky” cue really takes.
5. Landmine Single Leg RDL
The landmine single leg Romanian deadlift (RDL) is a classic hip hinge and hip extension movement. Depending on what you emphasize, you can target the glutes, the hamstrings, or all of the above. Whatever you do, the landmine single leg RDL will strengthen the muscles and movement patterns that make you stronger, faster, and perhaps even better at jumping. That’s because the hip extension is the source of human power. Any kind of jump, sprint, throw or swing involves a hip extension. And I’ll go even further. Unilateral hip extension is the key to human power; the single leg RDL on a landmine setup trains it.
It’s easy to do. Stand with feet shoulder width apart facing the bar. Standing on one foot, hinge at the hips to lower yourself and grab the bar with two hands (or you can try one). Keep your back flat and let your off leg drift behind you for counterbalance as you hinge. Pull through the foot to extend your hips and bring the bar up, really feeling the glutes and hamstrings. Keep the arms straight throughout the exercise.
The single leg RDL is also crucial for anyone worried about balance and avoiding falls. If you can lift a heavy barbell using one side of your hips while using the other side to stabilize, you’ll be less likely to take a spill.
6. Landmine Twisty Squat
Regular squats don’t work very well on the landmine. If you try to have the weight perfectly centered over the midline as you would in a normal squat, when you rise up the weight gets ahead of you, floats out in front. It’s all wrong. Enter the twisty squat. The twisty squat works everything a classic weighted squat works, but there’s a twist to it. You start from a slightly staggered stance with the bar situated over the back foot and instead of just going down and back up, you go down and on your way back up you pivot on the back foot to “twist” as you rise. If you like, you can even throw in a press at the top, maybe even with a calf raise. Again, this is the beauty of the landmine attachment: it opens up another plane of motion for business.
7. Landmine Twist
The landmine twist trains rotational strength, overall structural stability, and resistance to rotational forces.
To do the landmine twist, stand with feet hip shoulder width apart facing the bar head on. Grasp the end of the barbell with both hands, arms extended and elbows straight. Slowly rotate to the left, lowering the bar in a smooth, controlled arc while keeping your arms straight. Pivot on the ball of your opposite foot as you lower the bar. Return the bar to the starting position and lower it to the other side. Repeat.
The landmine twist is the ultimate rotational exercise. When you lower the bar in one direction, you’re resisting rotation with the other side. When you raise it, you’re training rotation. Every direction you go is a workout for both sides in different ways. While it is effective, that also means there’s no real “rest.” You’re constantly under tension, so exercise caution when doing this exercise. Go lighter than you think to start.
There are dozens of other landmine exercises you can do, but these 7 are the foundation for any good landmine training program. Start with those and see where they take you.
Have you ever tried landmine presses or landmine training in general? I’d love to hear about it. Let me know down below.
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After years of near-victories, Hadi Choopan finally scored bodybuilding’s greatest accomplishment when he won the 2022 Mr. Olympia. According to one of Choopan’s elite peers, the Iranian athlete will add another Olympia notch to his belt in November 2023 in Orlando, FL.
Bonac’s primary rationale behind backing Choopan for another Olympia victory is that he thinks the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League is veering away from a size focus for its top athletes. With a greater aim on a chiseled physique and overall symmetry, it’s here that Bonac explains such criteria could potentially be beneficial to Choopan’s repeat chances.
In fact, with former 212 competitors like Derek Lunsford starting to thrive in the heavier Men’s Open class, Bonac (who began his own competitive career in the 212 division) maintains that’s because aesthetic is becoming more vital for Mr. Olympia success. Notably, Choopan’s first professional victory was in the 212 division at the 2018 Portugal Pro before transitioning to the Men’s Open division in 2019.
“A lot of 212 guys are doing very good in the [Men’s] Open class,” Bonac said. “That’s something that I’ve noticed. They’re extremely good, maybe because they don’t look as big as Big Ramy [Mamdouh Elssbiay], those ‘mass monsters.’I think [the judges are] trying to go away from that. Not to say they are little guys, you understand. I also see that they are rewarding the taller guys. The few taller guys we have with beautiful aesthetics, that’s a good thing as well.”
When prompted by legendary trainer Miloš Šarčev, Bonac didn’t mince his words.
The athlete thinks Choopan is the current cream of the bodybuilding crop when it comes to being shredded.
“He’s [Choopan] next level,” Bonac explained. “Even with the pump up, when you stop pumping up, then he will come alive. The more he pumps up, the freakier he gets … I think honestly … last year or the year before the [2021] Olympia that he didn’t win, he looked way better. If he came in with that shape even now, that wasn’t even his best shape and he won it. So, I’m sure he’s going to take another title if he brings the condition that he brought the year before.”
Between Choopan, Lunsford, and Nick Walker, among others, the modern Men’s Open division seems more stacked than ever on paper. If Choopan is going to take home another Olympia title, it won’t come without worthy resistance. Though, if his training and physique are indeed as elite as Bonac professes, an extended reign at the top of bodybuilding might be inevitable.
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Some lifters will only consider training their abs with high-repetition bodyweight exercises. If they do add resistance, it’s often with exercises performed on highly stabilized machines, excessively heavy movements with compromised technique, or basic cable crunch variations that don’t allow the abs to perform as efficiently as possible. That’s when it’s time to head into the cable station and hit your core with something new.
Credit: Balance In Motion / YouTube
The half-kneeling Pallof press is a challenging, progressive core exercise derived from the basic standing Pallof press. The unique ground-based position challenges different musculature on both sides of your body while coordinating your torso, core, and legs with different tasks.
Here’s a review of all the elements you need to know about building total-body stability and core strength with the half-kneeling Pallof press.
Author James Shapiro explains the half-kneeling Pallof press and offers in-depth guidance for exercise technique, common mistakes, as well as several simple and effective ways to adjust the exercise.
How to Do the Half-Kneeling Pallof Press Step By Step
Following these detailed instructions to position yourself up for the half-kneeling Pallof Press will optimize your results. You will need a cable pulley system or a long resistance band with an anchor point that will not move, such as a squat rack.
Step 1 — Set Up Your Equipment and Position
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Being relatively comfortable is a priority since you’re in a half-kneeling (one-knee down) position Use a pad to cushion your knee if you don’t like the surface you are kneeling on. Set the pulley or band height so that the resistance runs in-line with your sternum — above your hips and under your chest — when you’re in the kneeling position.
Stand sideways to the cable and assume a half-kneeling position with the foot of your outside leg flat on the ground and the knee, shin, and toes of your inside leg on the ground. Your outside leg should have a roughly 90-degree angle relative to your hip and knee. Set the heel of your outside leg directly underneath the same side knee and set the knee of your inside leg underneath your hip.
Form Tip: Tucking the toes of your inside leg down (aiming your shoelaces to the ground) will add an extra level of lower-body bracing and activation. If you keep that foot pointed up on its toes, you might experience less hip stabilization and glute activation.
Step 2 — Brace with the Weight
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Grab the cable or band with both hands and interlock your fingers. Slowly pull the handle to the center of your sternum. With your lower body in position, drive your shoulders down pull your elbows to your sides to brace your total-body position before initiating the movement.
Keep your outside leg strong by engaging your glutes and activating your shoulders prior to the press. You should be able to maintain these key positions throughout the entire exercise.
Form Tip: The half-kneeling Pallof press is not an evenly distributed movement toward the body. The rotational forces being applied by the resistance are biased more toward the side closest to the band’s anchor point. This means you need to work even harder with the side farthest from the anchor point (the outside half of your body) to stay in line and balanced. This is also why it’s essential to perform reps equally on both the left and right sides.
Step 3 — Press and Pause
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Keep your lower body stable as you press your hands in a straight line, from the center of your sternum, away from your body until your arms are locked out. Pause briefly in the locked out position.
This is the hardest point of the movement — when your arms are farthest away from your body. The greatest amount of anti-rotation occurs when the arms are extended and the hands are the furthest point away from the sternum. Pausing in the arms-locked position will maximize tension through your core.
Form Tip: Do not try to exceed the muscular stress your body can maintain. If you start to feel that you’re shifting away from pressing in a straight line as your arms extend, do not go further just to get “more” out of the exercise. At that point, it’s likely you’ve lost some of your initial brace and need to return to the starting position. If necessary, stop before lockout to maintain position.
Step 4 — Return to the Starting Position
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Bring your hands back to your sternum in a controlled manner. Repeat steps two through four — brace, press and pause, return — for your intended repetition scheme before carefully returning the weight back to the anchor point.
Form Tip: There is no need to speed through the half-kneeling Pallof press. With a reduced and lowered base of support, plus a greater emphasis on core control, you need to be careful and deliberate with each individual repetition. Focus on quality movements instead of piling up a quantity of repetitions.
Half-Kneeling Pallof Press Mistakes to Avoid
A successful half-kneeling Pallof press requires a lot of moving parts and internal communication. Steer clear of these common mistakes to maximize your performance and results.
Leaning Too Far Forward or Backward
One common issue with half-kneeling positions is that people sometimes have a hard time understanding what a “neutral hip position” actually is. Either their torso leans too far forward because their lower body is positioned wrong or they lean back too much “for balance” and create too much extension through their low back.
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Avoid it: Think about keeping your upper body as tall as possible when entering the half-kneeling Pallof press. When you look down, you should see your hips are under your shoulders and above the knee of your lower leg. If you start to see an angle form between your torso and front thigh, you’re likely pushing your hips back.
Allowing Your Outside Knee To Collapse
Your outside knee might experience some movement during the pressing motion as your core is activated and your body fights against the resistance, however your knee can actually be the last place a lot of people focus on.
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
If your outside knee collapses inward toward the weight, it is demonstrating a lack of coordination from your glutes and obliques. Loss of coordination and strength from the internal obliques on the outside portion of your body can lead to more torso rotation toward the inside leg.
Avoid it: Be attentive to not push your knee out excessively. Having your inside-leg toes tucked under and engaging your glutes will help your outside leg maintain stability. An additional cue is to focus on how much ground pressure you are developing — feel power coming up from your outside foot. Pushing through the big toe of your outside leg can keep your hips and ankle in more efficient alignment.
Having Your Arms Fall “Off-Center”
Finding an imaginary line on the floor or focusing on a spot on the wall may initially be hard, but it’s possible when you don’t have any tangible landmarks to aim for while pressing away from your chest.
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Once you’ve picked a target, your arms should not be moving excessively “off-center”. If they do, it indicates you have either lost the brace position or you’re using too much resistance. Being in a half-kneeling position only amplifies either of these two common faults because your stability is challenged that much more.
Avoid it: You can either reduce the resistance, which should allow you more overall control, or you can slightly reduce the range of motion to a stay in a more easily controlled position. The half-kneeling position is a very demanding variation for any movement let alone an anti-rotation core movement.
Hips Falling To The Side
Poor oblique control paired with a lack of adductor (inner thigh) activation from your outside leg will lead you to have your hips falling to the side. Some of the functions of your obliques (side abs) include rotation, flexion, and lateral flexion — performing those movements as well as resisting them.
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
As you press forward, you may notice your hips potentially falling to the inside if you’re not strongly stabilizing the adductors of your outside leg.
Avoid it: Imagine you’re slightly crunching your obliques prior to your brace and press — just imagine, don’t actively crunch sideways. With your obliques and core fully engaged prior to pressing, you can expect little-to-no movement at your hips.
How to Progress the Half-Kneeling Pallof Press
Progressing through the half-kneeling Pallof press comes in a variety of ways. Using a band or cable pulley system can be a preference or a factor of accessibility depending on your available equipment. When the basic half-kneeling Pallof press becomes mundane or “easy,” challenge yourself with these small adjustments.
Pause Repetitions
Changing your tempo (speed of movement) is one of the best initial ways to progress a standard half-kneeling Pallof press, outside of changing your sets and reps. You can challenge your core with a longer pause in the lockout position before returning your hands to your sternum. You can also add multiple pauses for a second or less at specific points throughout the range of motion to make each repetition longer, creating more time under tension.
Increasing Repetitions Performed
Performing any anti-rotation exercise depends on the strength and endurance of your entire core musculature working together. Increasing the number of repetitions performed puts a strain on your core and challenges your local and overall muscular endurance. Making small incremental jumps in repetitions will also increase the amount of time worked and is a form of linear progression.
Benefits of the Half-Kneeling Pallof Press
The list of benefits the half-kneeling Pallof press holds may persuade you to add it into your workouts even if it may not look like the most interesting exercise. The research and evidence demonstrate the effectiveness of this exercise for relieving pain, supporting strength development, and improving sport performance. (8)
Reducing Lower Back Pain
One of the primary sources of work absence and disability is lower back pain (LBP). (1) With sedentary lifestyles, bad ergonomics, and poor posture, it shocking to see that more than 50% of people in the United States are affected by lower back pain that can lead to physical therapy or disability. (12)
By using the half-kneeling Pallof press to train the muscles responsible for improving the stability and endurance of your lumbar spine and hips, you can either reduce, eliminate, or prevent pain and discomfort in your lower back.
Increasing Your Strength
Performing compound (multi-joint) exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, overhead pressing, and bench press requires minimal movement where there should be stiffness. Many hear the word “stiffness” in a gym setting and attach a negative connotation. However, in places where there should be stiffness — such as your low back and spine — stiffness can simply mean wanting to be as stable as possible.
Credit: Jasminko Ibrakovic / Shutterstock
The effects of abdominal bracing have been shown to increase the strength and power of trunk and hip extension. (10) A core program that includes the half-kneeling Pallof press can stimulate intra-abdominal pressure, which helps to create that much-needed stability, and results in improved force output.
Sport Performance Improvements
Athletes who play sports are going to be rotating through their spine to generate force when they change direction, move sideways, jump, throw, or swing. Having the ability to generate core stiffness in certain athletic positions can also lead to great force application and prevent “energy leaks” (losses of strength and power) from occurring when attempting athletic movements. (5)(9)
Athletes who engage in core training with exercises like the half-kneeling Pallof press may see improvements in their athletic skill, agility, and power while maintaining a healthy spine. (2)(4)
Muscles Worked by the Half-Kneeling Pallof Press
Even though it has the word “press” in the exercise name, the half-kneeling Pallof press does not fall under traditional pressing exercises which would train your chest or shoulders. The press portion of the exercise is used to increase the lever arm and more strongly challenge your core stabilizers. You’re not actively lifting the weight during the pressing movement, so your chest and shoulders are not significantly recruited.
This means the muscles in your hips, core, and a few intrinsic muscles of your back get utilized a lot more than muscles of the shoulders, pecs, and triceps.
Obliques and Transverse Abdominis
Your internal and external obliques — found on each side of your abdominal wall — maintain abdominal tension, increase intra-abdominal pressure, and coordinate to rotate your trunk.
Credit: MDV Edwards / Shutterstock
This buildup of intra-abdominal pressure reinforces the transverse abdominis (your “primary” abdominal muscle) to stabilize your spine and pelvis. (6) Coordination between all of these muscles help to keep your spine and trunk stable and relatively stationary during he half-kneeling Pallof press as you press with your hands away from your body. (11)
Hip Musculature
In the half-kneeling position, your hips work isometrically to activate and integrate your core muscles. Your hamstrings and glutes are firing to maintain hip extension on your inside leg while holding a neutral hip position. Your outside leg has the TFL (tensor fasciae latae, a hip muscle) to assist the leg in hip flexion. Your inside leg is relying on a neutral position that counteracts the hip flexion of the outside leg. These muscles work in concert to prevent your hips from tilting sideways, forward, or backward during the exercise.
Intrinsic Back Muscles
People often misinterpret “core muscles” to mean only those located where we can see them — on the front of our body. However there are smaller intrinsic muscles located on our back, near our spine, or with attachment to our ribs.
The erector spinae, semispinalis, quadratus lumborum, and multifidi are a few that play a part during the half-kneeling Pallof press. These muscles are designed to extend the spine, laterally flex the spine when contracted unilaterally, maintain posture, and stabilize the low back. (7)
How to Program the Half-Kneeling Pallof Press
The half-kneeling Pallof press is considered a “supplemental” or accessory exercise and doesn’t necessarily need to be the primary movement for your workout. Understanding where the half-kneeling Pallof press can be programmed will determine its effectiveness in your program. Also note, if you’re familiar with performing the standing Pallof press, use less resistance with the half-kneeling exercise due to the change of position.
Supplementing Your Main Compound Lift
Performing the half-kneeling Pallof press at relatively lower intensities can be beneficial to those who lack proper core bracing during heavier sets of their squats, deadlifts, bench pressing, or overhead pressing. (3)
Fatiguing your core is not a smart or effective approach before performing compound movements. However, performing the half-kneeling Pallof press with lower intensities (staying away from muscular failure) and lower volume (such as two sets of 10 to 12 reps) can reinforce and maintain core tension for your primary training movements.
Low Intensity Recovery Days
Adding the half-kneeling Pallof press to recovery workouts or low intensity days can be an effective way to prepare your body, and your central nervous system, for the more intense workouts during your training week. Performed at low to moderate volume — such as two to four sets of eight to 12 reps — can help prime your body for the next day. It can also help with small “power leaks” with your strength-based movements.
Positioned in a Core Circuit
Many experienced lifters have found that training multiple core movements together as a form of circuit training amplifies the intensity of each exercise, compared to performing separate exercises by themselves. Pairing up other core exercises such as suitcase carries, hollow body holds, or deadbugs can amplify the intensity of the half-kneeling Pallof press.
Half-Kneeling Pallof Press Variations
Challenging yourself with the half-kneeling position can be difficult, but definiely not impossible. Below are a few variations of the half-kneeling Pallof press that increase with difficulty and should be progressed slowly. Demonstrations can be reviewed in the technique video at the beginning of the article.
Pallof Press and Lift
Moving your arms away from your center-mass is the driving force behind the anti-rotational benefits of the Pallof press. The farther the leverage moves from your center, the more difficult it will be.
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Adding a lift above your sternum, to eye-level or higher, further challenges your whole body to remain stable while engaging your serratus and shoulder stabilizers even more. Start small, as even a little movement will yield exponential difficulty to the exercise.
Pallof Perturbation Press and Hold
When your goal is to brace and maintain position, your body will work even harder when forces are trying to move you, rather than forces being manipulated more passively. This advanced exercise variation is performed with a small weight plate and a resistance band attached to an anchor point, rather than with a cable pulley.
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Attach a relatively light resistance band to the anchor point and slide a five-pound weight plate halfway down the band. Step out farther from the anchor position than normal and assume a half-kneeling position.
Focus on a rapid, almost explosive, press and hold the locked out position. The momentum of the movement should sling the plate forward and back. This forward and backward disturbance will try to push your body out of position. Work hard to maintain full-body tension, with core stiffness and a strong position, as the weight plate slowly comes to rest.
Isometric Split Squat Pallof Press
This variation increases lower body involvement while decreasing your base of support, which further increases the stability requirement. Start off in the half-kneeling position, brace, and press your arms in front of your chest. Then the hard part begins.
Credit: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Hold the locked out position, and push from the ground with both legs until your back knee is slightly off the ground. Briefly hold this isometric split squat position before gently returning the knee back to ground. Keep your arms locked and repeat the split squat position for repetitions.
FAQs
Why is the half-kneeling Pallof press harder than the standing version?
By taking the half-kneeling position, you create an uneven environment when your outside leg enters hip flexion and your inside hip remains neutral. This position affects the oblique core musculature demands when comparing the half-kneeling position and the more evenly stabilized standing position.
How can this exercise increase my strength for heavy compound lifts?
It takes a lot of experience to build full-body tension and equally express force through both sides of your body. Naturally, people will have a bias from one side of their body, either due to overall posture or from favoring the dominant side of the body. If you’ve ever felt a small turn or tilt to one side of your body when performing a lift, it’s a sign that you are losing tension during the movement. The half-kneeling variation can help address the oblique muscles on your relatively weaker side, so that your body can express force more efficiently.
What resistance level should I start with?
Begin with relatively light weight or low resistance. If you’re using a looped resistance band, use a thinner band, as band tension exponentially increases as you stretch it farther from the anchor point. If you have access to a cable pulley station, I would initially use 50% of the resistance you use if you’re familiar with performing the standing Pallof presses. If it’s your first time performing any Pallof press, use less than 10 pounds and master the technique before progressing gradually in weight.
References
Chang, Wen-Dien et al. “Core strength training for patients with chronic low back pain.” Journal of physical therapy science vol. 27,3 (2015): 619-22. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.619
Hibbs, Angela E et al. “Optimizing performance by improving core stability and core strength.” Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) vol. 38,12 (2008): 995-1008. doi:10.2165/00007256-200838120-00004
Huxel Bliven, Kellie C, and Barton E Anderson. “Core stability training for injury prevention.” Sports health vol. 5,6 (2013): 514-22. doi:10.1177/1941738113481200
Kibler, W Ben et al. “The role of core stability in athletic function.” Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) vol. 36,3 (2006): 189-98. doi:10.2165/00007256-200636030-00001
Luo, Shengyao et al. “Effect of Core Training on Skill Performance Among Athletes: A Systematic Review.” Frontiers in physiology vol. 13 915259. 6 Jun. 2022, doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.915259
Lynders, Christine. “The Critical Role of Development of the Transversus Abdominis in the Prevention and Treatment of Low Back Pain.” HSS journal : the musculoskeletal journal of Hospital for Special Surgery vol. 15,3 (2019): 214-220. doi:10.1007/s11420-019-09717-8
Malátová, Renata, Jitka Rokytová, and Jan Stumbauer. “The use of muscle dynamometer for correction of muscle imbalances in the area of deep stabilising spine system.” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine 227.8 (2013): 896-903.
McGill, Stuart M.. “Core Training: Evidence Translating to Better Performance and Injury Prevention.” Strength and Conditioning Journal 32 (2010): 33-46.
Samson, Kim M. et al. “A Core Stabilization Training Program for Tennis Athletes.” Athletic Therapy Today 12 (2007): 41-46.
Tayashiki, Kota et al. “Effect of abdominal bracing training on strength and power of trunk and lower limb muscles.” European journal of applied physiology vol. 116,9 (2016): 1703-13. doi:10.1007/s00421-016-3424-9
Willson, John D., et al. “Core stability and its relationship to lower extremity function and injury.” JAAOS-Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 13.5 (2005): 316-325.
Wu, Aimin et al. “Global low back pain prevalence and years lived with disability from 1990 to 2017: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” Annals of translational medicine vol. 8,6 (2020): 299. doi:10.21037/atm.2020.02.175
Featured Image: James Shapiro Performance / YouTube
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
On May 1, 2023, powerlifter Reece Fullwood shared an Instagram video of himself capturing a 412.5-kilogram (909.4-pound) raw with sleeves back squat during the 2023 Global Powerlifting Committee-Great Britain (GPC-GB) Welsh Championships. The strength feat is an all-time raw World Record in the 125-kilogram division.
Fullwood wore a lifting belt, knee sleeves, and wrist wraps to help him earn the milestone. In the caption of his Instagram post, Fullwood wrote that his body weight at the time of the lift was 125 kilograms (275.5 pounds) exactly. The 2023 GPC-GB Welsh Championships took place on Apr. 30, 2023, in Swansea, Wales.
According to the all-time leaderboard on Open Powerlifting, Fullwood’s raw record accomplishment officially surpasses a notable peer in the 125-kilogram class by 1.4 kilograms (3.3 pounds)
The second-heaviest squat, 411 kilograms (906.1 pounds), belongs to Phillip Herndon, whose previous World Record mark stood for only about six weeks. At the time of this article’s publication, Herndon still possesses the raw World Record squat of 395 kilograms (870.8 pounds) in the 110-kilogram division.
In addition to eclipsing Herndon’s squat World Record in the 125-kilogram weight class, here’s an overview of Fullwood’s all-time raw competition bests:
Reece Fullwood | All-Time Raw Competition Bests
Squat — 412.5 kilograms (909.4 pounds) | All-Time 125KG Raw World Record
Per his personal page onOpen Powerlifting, Fullwood has a relatively limited sanctioned competitive history. Including two appearances in the GPC-GB Welsh Championships (2019, 2023), Fullwood has participated in just three official powerlifting competitions to date. He has never lost a contest and once competed in the 139.7-kilogram division during a first-place performance at the 2022 GPC-GB Tattooed and Strong.
In another post on his Instagram, Fullwood seemed to take heart in his latest GPC-GB performance. While nursing an apparent elbow injury with nerve damage, the athlete came in with modest goals and surpassed his wildest individual expectations.
“Goal for the competition [the 2023 GPC-GB Welsh Championships] was not to get injured, break or tear anything, don’t be [expletive], and take a legitimate shot at an all time World Record Squat, to as good of a standard as I could execute!” Fullwood wrote. “I’m satisfied with the results given the condition I went into this competition knowing I wouldn’t be able to put together a competitive bench press. My elbow didn’t break, pec didn’t tear off. Came away with a few small strains and a big smile on my face!”
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
Every late April, powerlifter and strength icon Rudy Kadlub celebrates his birthday in one of the most appropriate ways — he bests his personal record (PR) deadlift. Each year, Kadlub adds one pound to his loaded barbell to mark the occasion. He stayed true to his word after his latest triumphant revolution around the sun.
On Apr. 28, 2023, Kadlub’s 74th birthday, he shared an Instagram video of himself capturing a 237.7-kilogram (524-pound) raw deadlift for a PR. When added together, the five and two in “524” comprise the seventh-decade portion of Kadlub’s latest birthday. After taking a hearty sip of whiskey, the athlete made his first rep look so smooth onlookers urged him to crush another repetition, which he accomplished with relative ease. Kadlub wore just a lifting belt to help with his lift and achieved his PR from a conventional stance with a mixed grip.
At his age, Kadlub lives a life dedicated to fitness and strength. He is the co-owner and CEO of Kabuki Strength, a fitness equipment manufacturer based in Oregon. Kadlub’s business partner, Chris Duffin, referred to Kadlub’s birthday PR deadlift as a “Kabuki annual event.”
As a competitive powerlifter, according to Open Powerlifting, Kadlub has officially featured on sanctioned lifting platforms in various Masters divisions since November 2006, when he began competing at 57 years old. The athlete’s most recent ventures have been as a 100-kilogram athlete in the Masters 70-74 division since May 2019. Kadlub’s most notable performance might have been a World Record-laden result with wraps at the 2021 International Powerlifting League (IPL) Drug Tested World Championship.
Here’s an overview of Kadlub’s top stats with wraps from that contest:
Rudy Kadlub (100KG) With Wraps | 2021 IPL World Championships
Squat — 204.9 kilograms (451.9 pounds) | All-Time World Record
Bench Press — 142.5 kilograms (314.1 pounds) | All-Time World Record
Deadlift — 232.5 kilograms (512.5 pounds) | All-Time World Record
Total — 577.9 kilograms (1,274.2 pounds) | All-Time World Record
A longer video shared on Kadlub’s page details his personal journey en route to his latest deadlift PR. The clip showcases Kadlub’s training facility for other athletes. It also features Kadlub hitting a massive 233.1-kilogram (514-pound) raw deadlift while apparently saddled with an undisclosed illness just one week before his birthday PR.
At this stage of his fitness career, Kadlub probably has little else he needs to transcend in terms of expectations. As he says in the video of his latest PR pull, the powerlifter may well shift things around, in terms of goals for Spring 2024.
Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss
On Apr. 28, 2023, the Giants Live organization used two comprehensive Instagram posts to reveal the lineup of strongman competitors for the 2023 Giants Live Strongman Classic (GLSC). The growing tentpole strength contest is scheduled to take place on Jul. 8, 2023, in London, England, and will feature 12 elite strongmen, including the two-time defending (and inaugural) champion Oleksii Novikov. This year’s GLSC is only the third iteration of the competition.
At the time of this article’s publication, here are the confirmed competitors for the 2023 Giants Live Strongman Classic:
There is no shortage of worthy contenders for the 2023 GLSC title. Six World’s Strongest Man (WSM) finalists and three WSM champions are littered all over the lineup. Knowing this fact, even without a confirmed events list or schedule at the time of this writing, it might be easy to figure out who should be favored to excel at the London competition.
The biggest name to watch might be Mitchell Hooper, who just won the 2023 WSM for his first victory at strongman’s flagship competition. The Canadian athlete is scorching hot performance-wise. His WSM victory included, Hooper has won five of his last six contests while qualifying for the podium in nine straight competitions.
Then there’s Tom Stoltman, who finished as the runner-up in the 2023 WSM after a status as the former reigning two-time WSM champion (2021-2022). According to Strongman Archives, Stoltman has featured in just two strongman contests over the past approximate calendar year, with the other being a sixth-place result at the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC).
Finally, as the last competitor with a WSM title on their resume, the athlete who should probably be a massive favorite based on his rap sheet is Novikov. Besides his status as the only-ever winner of the GLSC, Novikov has only missed the podium on two occasions out of 20 competitions dating back to his WSM championship in November 2020. Novikov is most recently coming off a runner-up finish in the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) and a third-place result at the 2023 WSM.
With a deck featuring so much strongman star power, the outcome of the 2023 GLSC seems to be up in the air. At the very least, it should make for an exhilarating show of power and prowess at the sport’s highest level.
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The one armed landmine row is a deceiving total body exercise. In addition to hitting the rear deltoids, lats, biceps, rhomboids, and erector spinae, it’s also a challenge for your grip, since the end of the barbell is so much thicker than a dumbbell. It’s almost as good a core and grip workout as it is a back and arm workout.
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