August 26, 2010

Horizontal Pulling

After a long hiatus this summer the blog is back and should be up and running on a more consistent basis. More often than not it seems very difficult to find the extra time to get on the computer and keep up with blog posts during the summer months. I apologize to those of you who read on a regular basis. To make it up to you, not only have I written my blog post I have also posted links to some really great articles I read recently at the bottom of the blog post. I hope you enjoy.

We left off talking about how to create the perfect weight lifting routine. I also promised you I would give you some of my favorite exercises for each of the movements. In the last blog we talked about horizontal pushing, so today we are going to talk about horizontal pulling exercises.

Generally speaking horizontal pulling movements will focus on the muscles of the upper back.

Bilateral	Unilateral
Bent-Over Barbell Row	Bent-Over Dumbbell Row
Horizontal Barbell Pull-up	Bent-Over Alternating Dumbbell Row
T-Bar Row	Two Arm Band Rows
Seated High Cable Row	Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Seated Low Cable Row	Single Arm Horizontal Barbell Pull-up
Standing High/Low Cable Row	3 Point Dumbbell Row

Horizontal pulling days are a very important part of your workout, often times the muscles of the back are significantly weaker than the muscles of the chest, which leads to a large muscle imbalance in the body. To help balance out the issue it will be important to have a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio of back exercises to chest exercises. As you become stronger and begin to correct the imbalance you may be able to move back to a 1:1 ratio. But keep in mind that the majority of clients I work with are in a seated bent over position all day and need a 3:1 ratio to break the sitting cycle.

Good Luck with your Horizontal Pulling exercises!

As promised here are some good articles I have recently read:

Why Everybody Needs Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids: Part I

Don’t worry I am not trying to sell you anything or get you to buy from this company but without a doubt this is one of the best and most thorough Omega-3 articles I have ever read. There is a lot of scientific information to get through but it tells it all. I even bookmarked it for future reference.

Heal that Hunchback

A little technical but still a great article.

In my next blog post I will cover Vertical Pushing exercises.

Stay motivated,

Karen