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Dorian Yates Shares His Go-To Exercise for Building Terrific Traps – Muscle & Fitness

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Dorian Yates Shares His Go-To Exercise for Building Terrific Traps – Muscle & Fitness

While six-time Olympia champion Dorian Yates is famed for releasing his Blood & Guts bodybuilding video guide in 2003, the Englishman still has plenty of exercises to share that didn’t make the cut. Here, “The Shadow” explains the importance of the simple shrug to his legendary success.

“Here’s a few shots of myself performing barbell and machine shrugs,” explained Yates in a recent Instagram post. “I did them throughout the years and often switched them up with dumbbells. For traps, it was only ever one exercise, whether that was barbell, dumbbell or a machine, only one direct exercise.”

Why Shrugs Are Superb for Taxing the Traps

The traps are a muscle group that can be seen front and back. They are the bulging piles of mass that sit between your neck and shoulders, on either side of your frame.  Your traps serve to provide that coveted triangular look in the upper shoulder area.

“On slides 2 and 5 is when I trained with Mike Mentzer using the Hammer Strength shrug machine, using 8 plates per side!” recalls Yates. “It was an excellent machine and was the first time I used their brand of equipment and was impressed. I had a contract with them and had some great machines in for Temple Gym after. And, on slide 3 is at Temple Gym where I used this machine to do shrugs. It could be used as a chest press too, but I used it for traps.”

The man they call “The Shadow” would spend countless hours in the Temple Gym in Birmingham. This is where he began training his physique for bodybuilding success. Shrugs build mass and strength in the upper back, resulting in improved performance in other lifts such as the deadlift. The actual shrugging aspect of the movement occurs when you drive the barbell or dumbbell up. By focusing on the shoulders. They key is to bring the shoulders up towards the ears as you raise the bar, relying less on your arms. The next step should involve a brief pause to make sure the traps are fully activated at the top of the lift, before lowering the weight.

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”With traps, I did utilize partial reps when failure was reached to fully exhaust them,” explains Yates, recalling those long and brutal sessions training for each Olympia. “I mixed it up from time to time, you get more freedom with dumbbells but can go heavier with a barbell and machine.”

Per Bernal

Not everyone is built like Dorian Yates in his prime, so be sure to choose a weight that doesn’t strain your traps, as that would be counterproductive. Work on your form and progressively add weight, sets, and reps as you go. “In Temple Gym, I eventually had to get 100kg dumbbells made… I was the only user!” shares the legend.

For more fitness inspiration follow Dorian Yates on Instagram 

Young Arnold Schwarzenegger standing behind a barbell bench after working out

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Working out but not seeing results? A PT confirms whether 30-minute workouts are top-tier for boosting fitness

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Working out but not seeing results? A PT confirms whether 30-minute workouts are top-tier for boosting fitness

While some of you have your healthy lifestyle down to a tee – balanced nutrition, adequate sleep and a finely tuned workout regime incorporating strength, cardio and flexibility training – others struggle to know where to start when it comes to fitness. And with Google searches for “Is 30 minutes of exercise a day enough?” spiking, it seems that many of you aren’t sure about the length of time or number of workouts to aim for weekly.

And to make matters even more confusing, knowing how often you should workout isn’t always as simple as it should be. You see, your progress will depend on a combination of factors which might seem unconnected to exercise but still have an impact. Sleep, for example, has been shown in various studies (like this one, published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology) to affect physical performance, while research also shows a bi-directional relationship between exercise and stress.

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The overlooked key to fitness? Strengthening your joints and tendons

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The overlooked key to fitness? Strengthening your joints and tendons

Isometric exercises, like planks or lunge holds, require holding a position for an extended period. In these positions, your muscles are firing, but you’re also working on the alignment of the joint and working the tendon to hold that position, says Wulke. Ho adds that while ligaments and joints cannot technically be trained directly like tendons, you can support their health by strengthening the surrounding muscles and encouraging proper movement patterns.

Wulke often programs training days with a mix of goals for her athletes: “high” days for muscle and strength development and “low” days focusing on alignment, isometric holds, and mobility. But most people don’t have enough time to dedicate separate days for joint-specific work. Instead, try integrating these movements into your existing strength training sessions. Consider adding a few sets of isometric holds during your warm-up or as a finisher.

(Is cracking your joints bad for you?)

During your workouts, focus on the eccentric phase of your movements. Slow down and maintain control throughout the exercise to help you ensure proper form. You can also use higher reps and lower weight to reduce the risk of overstressing connective tissues.

Last, Hinson recommends incorporating low-impact exercises such as walking, cycling, Pilates, water aquatics, and yoga. “Taking care of and improving the structures that make the joints stronger and more flexible—it really will pay huge dividends in keeping [people] out of my office and away from injury,” he says.

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Avoid doing these gym exercises now! Orthopaedic doctor reveals exercises that do more harm; the answers may shock you

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Avoid doing these gym exercises now! Orthopaedic doctor reveals exercises that do more harm; the answers may shock you

Did you know that some popular exercises that we all do at the gym to stay fit and healthy may be doing more harm than good? Dr Venkatesh Movva, an orthopaedic doctor trained in Sports Medicine, sat down with Ranveer Allahbadia for The Ranveer Podcast, where he talked about the exercise one should avoid at the gym. The answers will surprise you.

Dr Venkatesh Movva, an orthopaedic doctor, in a podcast with Ranveer Allahbadia.

(Also Read | Ranbir Kapoor ‘decides to clap’ in between his pullups. Guess how Alia Bhatt reacted?)

Avoid doing these gym exercises now!

In the clip shared on The Ranveer Show Podcast Instagram page, with the caption, “Dr Venkatesh on Which Exercises you should Avoid in Gym?”, Ranveer asks Dr Movva which exercises he would recommend gymgoers to avoid as an orthopaedic doctor. He suggested three exercises which are quite popular among gymgoers aiming to get fit, lose weight or stay healthy. According to him, one should not do overhead exercises, deadlifts, and crunches.

Dr Movva stated in the clip, “Overhead, heavy [exercise]. I mean, you can go stretch, but no military press, number one. Number two crunches; avoid them. Number three, deadlifts. (sic)” To this, Ranveer replied, “So, I’d replace the military press because it’s for the anterior delts with just front raises.” As an alternative, Dr Movva suggested people to ‘bend down’ during such exercises. “You can go bend down, raise it [weights], rather than overhead (sic),” he said.

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While Ranveer, a fitness enthusiast himself, said that he would replace crunches with planks, Dr Movva suggested ‘planks and bridges’.

Lastly, for why one should avoid deadlifts, an exercise you must have seen many celebrities doing at the gym and fitness influencers pushing their followers to include in their routine, the orthopaedic doctor said, “I see more injuries than benefits with the deadlifts. If you are really well-trained and have a good muscle balance, do it. But if you are trying to get better, that’s one thing you may want to avoid. Because the risk of injury is very high. There are so many other exercises that you can compensate without doing these things.”

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

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