Adam Vogel, Author at T NATION

Fix Tight Hamstrings Forever

Adam Vogel — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 09:57:24 +0000

Tight hamstrings are the bane of every athlete's existence, paving the road to an assortment of pains and problems ranging from muscle strains, knee pain, and bad posture to decreased strength and performance. Maybe this is why hamstring stretching is such a ubiquitous feature in fitness programs, pre-sport warm-up, and physical therapy protocols. Despite countless

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Tip: The Ultimate Way to Warm Up

Adam Vogel — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 09:53:45 +0000

Problem: Decathlon Warm-Ups Warm-ups are like workout foreplay – they get your blood flowing and build toward the main event. Yet, too many people take the opposite approach, supplanting the main workout with a never-ending stream of stretches, foam rolling, and "activation" drills before touching a weight. As well-intentioned as these practices may be, nothing

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Tip: 3 New Ways to Build Strong Hammies

Adam Vogel — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 10:45:28 +0000

Hamstrings lagging? Get creative. Lighten the load a bit; play around with different angles, force vectors and exercises; and accumulate tissue-specific volume. Try one of these exercises for 3-5 sets. Shoot for 8-12 reps. 1. Rear Foot on Wall Dumbbell RDL This variation of the traditional RDL places the back foot against a wall for

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3 Common Mistakes That Eff-Up Your Workouts

Adam Vogel — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 07:45:09 +0000

We all want our workouts to be effective and efficient, but human physiology and psychology are complex. There are a lot of variables to manage. Sometimes, in our eagerness to optimize training time and check all the boxes, we end up wasting time on the superfluous. When this happens, workouts become flat, unfocused, and uninspiring.

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5 Steps to Superhuman Hamstrings

Adam Vogel — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:32:00 +0000

One Workout, Five Steps Hamstrings are often an afterthought. As a result, most people have hamstrings that are woefully lacking in both size and strength. Here's a simple, five-step recipe for building hamstrings that look great, perform at their peak, and might even help you to touch those toes again. Just choose the exercises that

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Tip: The Smarter Way to Plank

Adam Vogel — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:29:48 +0000

The Feet-on-Wall Front Plank Front planks aren't anything new. Still, most people butcher them because they lack body position awareness. Putting the feet, especially the heels, against the wall provides a tactile reference point to activate the hamstrings and hold the pelvis in position against gravity. Start on your elbows and knees with your feet

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Tip: The Natural Pulldown

Adam Vogel — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 08:55:32 +0000

Traditional lat pulldowns are a great exercise for building muscle mass, but like all bilateral (two-armed) shoulder extension exercises, they overlook a basic truth of human movement: Our bodies are designed for reciprocal motion. This is obvious when you think of lower body movements like walking and running. We're upright, bipedal animals that use reciprocal

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Death to Foam Rollers and Boring Rehab Stuff

Adam Vogel — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 11:05:35 +0000

Lifting weights has major benefits, but it also has hidden costs like pain, stiffness, injury, and burnout. To combat these problems, many lifters turn to corrective exercises – stretches, foam rolling, joint mobilizations, and core stability exercises – largely cobbled together from doctors, physical therapists, and massage therapists. But exercises that live in this foggy,

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3D Core Training

Adam Vogel — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 11:32:04 +0000

Most Ab Training Programs Suck Why? Because they fail to deliver the total package: a strong, athletic core that looks great, staves off injury, and actually improves performance in the gym. If you want to have it all, you need to move beyond high-rep, one-dimensional abdominal exercises. Crunches, leg raises, and the deluge of isometric

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5 Fun Workouts for Work Capacity

Adam Vogel — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 02:01:58 +0000

When I first started training, I wanted to be the type of person who benched and squatted more than everyone else in the gym. In that pursuit, my body was willing to let my ego take it to some pretty scary places. I'm older now and, truth be told, those things are still important to

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