Isolate and Grow
by Cris Edmonds on September 27, 2024I am all for the basics…..heavy dumbbells and barbells. But if you are truly struggling to feel a muscle work, I prefer to make it work independently.
What I mean is simply eliminate 50% of the body……so instead of a bb row, lets get a heavy db and get to rowing. This way you can focus all your effort and energy on the working side.
This also can really improve alignment of the exercise in things like curls, tricep extensions and machine rowing. When you can shift your hip, shoulder, eblow or wrist you will find the muscle can just get trashed.
So instead of drastically lowering weight (what most coaches will suggest) try going one side at a time to improve your connection.
Cris is the Lead Coach for Team MountainDog.
John Meadows nicknamed him “Cris the Insane” over 11 years ago when they started working together. Over 30 programs later and he is still cranking. His understandings of John's philosophies from exercise selection or order, rep ranges, volume, intensity and days of training per week are ingrained in him from the 1,800+ workouts he had done under John's watchful eye.