The Scapula sets the stage for the entire upper body. Your shoulder blades need to be able to move freely in all directions for shoulder health & performance. A shrug is a straight-arm exercise that isolates scapular movement. Shrugs work your trapezius & serratus anterior muscles. Your upper tra...

The Hanging Leg Raise is the king of core exercises. The arms overhead position also provides the biggest core stability challenge plus it tests your grip strength to the max. You should be able to hang effortlessly for a full minute before attempting this exercise.

Focus on pulling down agains...

The Bodyweight Row (often called a Reverse Pushup or Horizontal Pullup) works the entire backside of the body. It’s also a key stepping stone exercise to pullups. It can be done with parallel bars or gymnastic rings. The progression with parallel bars is knees bent to legs straight to feet-elevat...

The Pullup is the ultimate upper body exercise. It’s also the hardest for a few reasons. One, it involves all of your bodyweight. Two, your arms are overhead. This extreme joint angle challenges your mobility & stability to the max. Plus it creates a natural blood-flow restriction effect since ox...

The Carry (or Farmer’s Walk) is a full-body core exercise but if you can’t grip it, you can’t lift it. That’s why it’s listed in the UPPER category. As the load & time-under-tension grows on this exercise, so will your entire upper body. The key to getting the most out of this drill is to keep th...

The Back Plank (or Bridge) trains your posterior core to resist flexion. Consider it a reverse front plank. This drill is a must to offset the damaging effects of prolonged sitting by activating the glutes and mobilizing the hips. Adding a mini-band above the knees increases lateral hip activatio...

If I had to pick just one exercise for full-body fitness, it would be the Getup. Lay on your back with a dumbbell overhead and go from ground to stand and back. It’s a multi-move miracle combining planking, bridging, hinging & lunging. And it’s a lie detector test for your overall mobility, stabi...

The Pullup is the ultimate bodyweight bodybuilding exercise. It builds your back, forges a vice-like grip & sculpts a V-shaped torso. Think of it like a spine-friendly deadlift for your upper body. Hanging from a bar decompresses your spine to nourish & hydrate your intervertebral discs.

Why are...

These drills are a must if you have shoulder pain, trouble getting your arms overhead, or do lots of pullups, rows, deadlifts, and carries. Do them for a minimum of 10 minutes tonight while watching TV. If you find them to be particularly problematic, consider doing them at other times of day or ...

This 10-minute hangs flow decompresses the spine, tractions the hips & improves overhead arms positioning (or shoulder flexion). Though it focuses on the upper body & core, it’s still a phenomenal full-body stability warmup. Focus on elevating & depressing your shoulder blades (or scapula) for ma...

This is the full 12-step progression tutorial to go from ground-zero to super-hero for Hanging Leg Raises, the king of core exercises!

I created this 10-minute flow to alleviate both wrist & elbow pain, strengthen the hands & fingers, and enhance plank, hang, pushup & pullup performance. First you’ll take tension out of the forearm muscles to take pressure off of the wrists and increase joint ROM potential. Then you’ll work on f...

Here are my 10 favorite stretches using an eclectic mix of mobility & flexibility flows that hit the whole body, with special attention to the ankles, hips & shoulders.

Do each drill for a least 1-2 minutes (and up to 5 minutes) pre-workout, post-workout on off-days for active recovery.

1.) Nec...