4 Exercises That Will Power Up Your Training And Keep Your Body Young

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“I could do that when I was your age.”

“Just you wait, your training will change.“

“Back in the day, I’d walk 4 miles to the gym, uphill both ways.”

Uh, okay.

We all know that old gray-pubed, venom-spewing bag of dicks.

Hell, maybe that’s you.

But the point is, no one wants to be the old guy, telling everyone how jacked, how athletic, and how great he USED to be.

Problem is, that’s what the majority of bro’s become once they hit 25. We’re becoming a group of has-beens. Dudes who use “back in the day” to describe their athleticism.

And while you don’t play sports anymore, it’s up to you to train and preserve your athleticism. After all, it’s not enough to only be jacked. You should be jacked and athletic, having the ability to handle anything life throws at you.

That’s exactly what adding these five exercises into your training will help you do: Power up your training to build your ultimate body.

These exercises activate your nervous system to recruit fast-twitch muscles you’ve neglected. This means you’ll lift more weight and stimulate more muscle growth during workouts.

In time, you’ll recruit more muscle fibers with less effort, making it easier to jump, sprint, and be explosive both inside and outside the gym.

  1. Jumps

Jumps use explosive hip extension to generate force with your entire lower body. This bridges the gap between jumping in sport and your workouts in the gym. Like the hip extension needed to sprint, jump (obvi), squat, these jumps will get you stronger and more explosive.

Jump Options:

–           Box Jump: Box jumps limit knee stress and provide a foundation to reinforce good landing mechanics.

In the interest of not shredding your knee with bad landings, use the box jump when adding jumps back into training. Box jumps are also your best option during heavy squat programs to minimize knee stress. Alas, don’t be the dude jumping backwards off the jump, unless you want to end up with an Achilles tear.

–           Dumbbell Squat Jump:

Adding dumbbells to your squat jumps bridges the gap between strength and speed to help you build stronger, more explosive legs. Use three to five sets of three to five reps before your lower-body lift.

  • Multiple Rep Squat Jump: Multi-rep jumps are a true plyometric, meaning they use the stretch-shortening cycle to build crazy athleticism and power. They’re stressful on the body and take time to work up to, but they’ll power-up your performance. Three sets of three reps with 90 seconds rest is a great starting point.

 

– Broad Jumps: Broad jumps are awesome for developing explosive horizontal hip power and athleticism. The only caveat is they’re much tougher on your knees. Jump both “up” and “out” for more knee friendly hops.

  1. Hill Sprints

Nearly all sports need sprinting as a movement for success. Thus, a wise man would say sprinting is a key component to making you more athletic, even if your playing days are dead and gone.

Further, the benefits of sprints go beyond scoring beating your opponents down the court.

Sprints use major muscles like your glutes, quads, and hamstrings to generate insane amounts of force and power. These muscle contractions create a hormonal environment like heavy lifting. Your body releases testosterone, growth hormone, and improves insulin sensitivity. Altogether, this combination helps slow aging, increases muscle mass, and shreds body fat.

But, typical sprints are tough on your body. Instead of taking off in a sprint on flat surfaces, your best bet is an incline treadmill or hill.

The hill reduces the distance your foot goes to the ground, thereby reducing the impact of running. Running up a hill prevents over striding, reducing the chance you’ll jack your shit up with a pulled hamstring.

Further, sprinting up a hill is tougher and hits your muscles harder than sprinting on a flat surface.

When you combine the hormonal environment that keeps you younger, leaner, and more athletic with the decreased chance of injury, hill sprints are a must.

  1. Barbell Hang High-Pull

Cleans are a great exercise, but most guys struggle to rack the barbell on their shoulders.

In the best interest of your shoulders, elbows, and wrists, most guys are better off with the barbell high pull.

The high pull uses explosive hip extension to generate force with your legs. Then, shrug your shoulders and drive your elbows to pull the barbell between nipple and throat height. This forces your legs to develop power, while challenging your traps, forearms, and shoulders to transfer force from the lower body.

The end result?

You’ll build the ultimate power look. Thick traps, strong forearms, bolder shoulders, and a well-developed lower body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dtmeNx5kiA

Try 3-5 sets of 4-6 reps with 90-120 seconds between sets.

  1. One Arm DB Snatch

The snatch is arguably the best exercise for building head-to-toe athleticism. Problem is, most dudes sit all day finger blasting their iPhone or laptop.

This renders most guys incapable of performing overhead lifts, let alone snatches without a huge risk of injury.

To bridge the gap between athleticism and safety is the single arm dumbbell snatch. This lift combines builds powerful legs, a strong core, and stable shoulders.

Adding Athleticism Into your Training:

It’s never easy to read an article and plug exercises directly into your training without a hitch. For best results, you can adopt one of two strategies.

First, you can cut out time on your phone, and put these explosive exercises first in during your workout. This helps you get most explosive when you’re freshest, reducing the chance of injury and boosting performance.

Or Second, you can checkout a brand new program, like the Power Primer 2.0. The Power Primer uses the science of performance to help you build your best looking and best performing body. With three 12-week programs, the Power Primer will help you supercharge your athleticism, build muscle, and finally get a lean, athletic body. Check it out now to build a true, high-powered body.