To finish or not to finish: 5 gym exercises that don’t work as standalone exercises

Exercise in the gym should be approached wisely. Favorite exercises can be ineffective in each particular case. It would seem that the muscle works and hurts after exercise, but the result leaves much to be desired. This is because there is a basic training program and exercises for muscle conditioning.

Artyom Diyanov, IFBB Classic Bodybuilding World Champion, fitness trainer, lecturer at regional and international fitness conventions and exhibitions, presenter of the International Festival of Health and Sports SN PRO EXPO FORUM, tells us more about what dobivka is, why it is necessary and why you should use it.

What is Dobivka?

Studies of recent years show that to increase muscle volume and mass, an important parameter is the ability to fatigue and “exhaust” muscles during an approach.

And this depends largely on the state of the central nervous system and the ability of muscles to interact with it. Someone can do one exercise and fully work the required part of the body, and someone has to perform several exercises to get the same effect.

Doing exercises is a kind of “golden mean” in solving the issue of balance between “can and want”.

Differences between reaching and basic exercises:

• The smallest number of joints are involved in the work
• Smaller range of motion
• The exercise is performed after you have performed the basic exercise with a high impact.

What is the difference between a pull-up and a basic exercise?

In training, we keep the nervous and muscular systems from fatigue and energy expenditure. When the systems get tired, they start to slack off and look for ways to accomplish their tasks in easier ways. Because of this, muscle groups that shouldn’t be engaged get involved. This means that we cannot achieve the necessary fatigue in a particular muscle.

In most cases this problem is completely or partially solved with the use of a boost.

To select exercises for supplementation, we try to maximize the anatomical functions of the muscle being trained.

What to use to finish the muscle

For pectoral muscles: Svend bench press or press with palms facing each other.

The main thing here is to choose the right weight and not to direct the load to the front deltoid muscle. For this purpose, you can try doing this exercise lying on a bench.

For thigh and quadriceps muscles: Sissy squats or squats with knees forward, standing on your toes.

This exercise is quite demanding on the knee joint, so it should be done in a warmed up state (after the main exercise) and without painful or unpleasant symptoms.

For the back and broadest muscles: dumbbell pull in an incline with a pronounced lateral tilt of the torso.

Here the main and working part of the movement is the lateral tilt of the torso, not the extension of the shoulder. To simplify it, it can be done in a lever machine one arm at a time with the same lateral inclination.

For the biceps: one arm bend with a dumbbell while sitting with the hand resting on the hip.

It is important not to do the exercise in full amplitude, not to help the forearm by bending the shoulder and be sure to use the function of the biceps, responsible for the ability of the forearm to turn out, at the moment of lifting to rotate the hand with the palm up, and at the moment of lowering to return to a neutral version.

For triceps: one arm extension (with a shock absorber or in a crossover block) in an incline.

Keep the shoulder in an overextended position (the elbow goes beyond the position of the center line of the torso).

We have listed a few exercises that probably as separate independent exercises will not give enough intensity to the athlete, but in combination with the main exercise they will increase the effect and the feeling of working in the trained muscle group.

One should not forget about the individuality factor – different exercises may be suitable for different people. The main thing is to remember and understand why you do them, to use knowledge about muscle attachments and functions in order to choose the right exercises for yourself.

You can learn more about training at the VIII International Festival of Health and Sports SN PRO EXPO FORUM on June 25-27. The event will include a three-day fitness convention with top Russian and foreign presenters. Four parallel streams (three practice halls and one theory hall), more than 40 popular trends, more than 100 practical classes and 25 theoretical seminars.