(Part 1)
It blows my mind how some of the most traditional weight room lifts have minimal application in human movement. For example, the most venerable lift of all time, the Back Squat, develops great total leg strength, core stability, and improves your metabolism. But how many movements in your daily life and eve sports does the squat specifically prepare you for? I came up with three: Double Dutch, grabbing a rebound, and peeing-if you are a girl.
I was always educated about the importance of specificity in training with incredible detail down to having the appropriate shin angle for performance enhancement. For instance, train in the shin angle you play the game in: an athletic stance. Train how you play. Train how you live. So when I analyze a movement like the Back Squat, I acknowledge the health benefits and safety precautions of a well-balanced and symmetrical squat that we were all taught in gym class. But I just feel there are great variations off this fundamental lift that have more relevance and application for everyday living from the marathoner to the librarian.
The first principle is training with specificity and unilateral movements (i.e. walking, running, swimming, drinking a beer) are more common than symmetrical ones (e.g. sit-ups, sex, underhand free throws). So I prefer unilateral dumbbell presses to the symmetrical bench press. The use of dumbbells develops the stabilizer muscles and working the right and left side on their own, every other rep, engages the core muscles to support the lift since you body is in an unbalanced and asymmetrical position.
Start the lift with your arms fully extended away from your chest and the dumbbells perpendicular to your body as it lies on the bench. Lower one arm while keeping the other arm locked out until the entire rep is complete. As you lower the dumbbell rotate so it’s parallel to your body at the bottom of the lift. When you press make sure you reach the top of the lift, locked out, before the opposite arm begins to lower to start the next rep. This lift requires much more participation from the core, stabilizers, arms, and chest. A simple variation after three weeks of this exercise is to repeat the concept on an incline bench for weeks four through six.
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