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Nick Nilsson is the Director
of Online Operations for Staley Training Systems. He has
a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been
inventing powerful new training techniques for more than
18 years.
Nick is the author of a number
of bodybuilding eBooks (listed below) all available by clicking
here and has written for a variety of publications
including Men's Fitness, Reps, Musclemag, Bodybuilding.com
and many others. He can be contacted at nick@staleytraining.com.
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Articles
- 2009 Archive
Articles
New!
- Straight
Bar Dips for Chest
By
Nick Nilsson
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This
is a unique variation of the dip that hits the
chest. It's a great alternative if you don't have
dipping bars or two bars to make your own dip
stand in the rack.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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V-Bar
Pull-Ups For the Lower Lats
By
Nick Nilsson
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The Pull-Up is a
standard back exercise...for good reason...it's
one of the best you can do! This version of the
pull-up utilizes the V- handle attachment that
usually gets attached to cables for Seated Cable
Rows and forces you to pull in a way that directly
targets the lower lats.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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High/Low
Chest Pre-Exhaust Training
By
Nick Nilsson
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Pre-exhaust training
is useful when you have bodyparts, like chest
for instance, that don't respond well to "normal"
training. With chest in particular, the triceps
or shoulders can often take over the movements.
To get around
this, you use pre-exhaust. You basically do an
isolation exercise for the bodypart followed immediately
by a compound exercise, e.g. flyes then bench
press.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Handstand
Push-Ups - The BEST Shoulder Exercise You Can
Do
By
Nick Nilsson
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The
Handstand Push-Up is, in my opinion, THE single
most effective shoulder exercise you can do. The
mechanics are exactly like a regular shoulder
press but, since you're moving your bodyweight
through space, you active the shoulder muscle
fibers far more...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Full Range Quads...Sissy Squats to Leg Press In
the Rack
By Nick Nilsson
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Ok, so here's one
I can pretty much PROMISE you've never seen anything
like before. It's one of THE most insane exercises
I've ever come up with and believe me...if you
want to really hammer your quads, it's going to
leave you on the floor after the first set. But
I'll tell you right up front...it LOOKS worse
than it actually is...the bottom part of the movement
is actually safer than a "normal" sissy
squat because of how you're supporting yourself
(you'll see)...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Swiss
Ball Incline Press Negatives
By Nick Nilsson
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This is a great
technique for hitting the upper chest with negative
training without having a training partner to
help you get the weight back up to the top. What
you'll do is simple and it just involves adjusting
your body position on the ball. This is one bench
press that you CAN'T do on a bench because of
the dynamic body positioning involved.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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High
Rep Deadlifts
By Nick Nilsson
Normally, when
you think deadlifts, you think heavy weight
and low reps...Well THIS time you're going to
use moderate weight HIGH reps and you'll either
love it or hate it!
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Click
here to keep reading...
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EZ
Bar One Arm Rows
By Nick Nilsson
When
your dumbells aren't heavy enough
anymore, THIS is how you get around
it. Heck, even if you're tired of
just using a dumbell at all, this
is a great alternative.
Very
simply, you're going to use the EZ
bar as though it were a dumbell...gripping
in the center and rowing it up like
a dumbell...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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"3D
Abs!" - Three Unique Abdominal Exercises In The Three
Major Planes Of Movement
By
Nick Nilsson
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Six pack abs, flat
stomach, strong core...sound interesting? But
what to do you if you've tried every abdominal
exercise in the book and you need something NEW?
These following 3 ab exercises, using only very
simple equipment, will hit your abs in ways they've
NEVER felt before...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Solo
Bench Press Negative Training
By Nick Nilsson
Negative
training, if you're not familiar
with it, is basically using a heavy
weight and focusing on just the
LOWERING phase of a rep. This technique
will allow you do perform negative-only
reps WITHOUT the aid of a partner
to help you lift the weight back
to the start position.
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The
Bicep In-Set Superset
By
Nick Nilsson
This
is a technique that I
came up with that hits
the biceps so effectively,
you'll have trouble reaching
up to scratch your nose
without shaking. It's
not really an "exercise"
but a combination of two
exercises that you've
seen before...
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Explosive
Hammer Curls
By
Nick Nilsson
The Hammer
Curl is one of the best exercises for
building up the brachialis muscles, which
lie underneath the biceps. In most people,
the leverage of this exercise is better
than for regular dumbell curls and you
can use somewhat more weight. This variation
that I've come up with incorporates explosiveness
into the movement...
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I
Got My Butt Kicked by a 68 Year Old Woman...My Experience
at a TFT Seminar
By
Nick Nilsson
Now,
if you're AT ALL interested in self-defence
(or if that title just grabbed your attention)
and keeping yourself and your loved ones
safe, this is an article you definitely
need to read.
Back
in April of this year, I attended a live
Target Focus Training self-defence seminar
in Chicago, run by Tim Larkin himself and
I want to give you the full rundown on my
experiences with the seminar and with the
TFT system...
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Why Your
Big Toe Is Your Key To Great Calves!
By
Nick Nilsson
This
tip is a bit of a change of pace...
no pictures...no video (this one would
be tough to show in a picture or video
but is pretty easy to explain).
If you're
looking to really build your calves,
this one little piece of advice will
help TREMENDOUSLY. Yet you rarely,
if ever, see anybody mention this
when you get instructions on calf
exercises.
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2
Up 1 Down Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
By
Nick Nilsson
The
Stiff-Legged Deadlift is one of
my very favorite hamstring exercises
- it can be tricky to learn but
the results are worth it.
I've
got an advanced version of the
SLDL here for you today. This
one should only be done by people
who are experienced with the SLDL
- it's NOT a beginner type of
exercise.
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How
To Do Heavy Dumbell Bench Press on the Swiss Ball
By
Nick Nilsson
If you've
ready any of my articles on dumbell
bench press, you know I'm a big fan
of doing the exercise on the Swiss
ball rather than on an actual flat
bench. In this article, I'll tell
you why I think it's better and exactly
how to perform the exercise to use
maximum weight safely...
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Rack-Rail
Leg Raises for DOUBLE-Torching Your Midsection
By
Nick Nilsson
This
one is a variation on the classic
"leg raise" exercise...the
key difference here lies on WHERE
you're doing the exercise. It's
not a hanging version - it's actually
a fair bit harder than that! With
this version, you're going to be
supporting yourself on the safety
rails of the power rack - it almost
looks a bit like the Iron Cross
position a gymnast gets into on
the rings.
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Suspender
Deadlifts - A Unique Technique for Assisted Deadlifts
By
Nick Nilsson
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I
came up with this one as a way to do assisted
deadlifts using bands but without having anything
to anchor bands onto in order to give assistance
out of the bottom. This makes it great for home-gym
use and for regular-gym use in acclimating your
body to heavier deadlift loads than you could
normally use.
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Seated Negative Barbell Curls to TRASH Your Biceps
By
Nick Nilsson
This
is an excellent negative-accentuated
exercise for really trashing the
biceps. It also keeps excellent
tension on the biceps, which makes
the exercise even MORE effective.
Your biceps will get no rest with
this one!
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Zercher
Squats Off the Floor
By
Nick Nilsson
Let me
just start by saying, this is one of
THE toughest exercises you'll ever do.
This is not for the faint of heart...but
if you want to really test your mettle,
this is a good one to do it with! THIS
version of the Zercher Squat is basically
the same thing as the normal one except
you're NOT in a rack- you have to get
the bar off the floor, get it into the
crooks of your arms THEN do the exercise...
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Bottom
Start Barbell Shoulder Press For Monster Shoulder Power
By
Nick Nilsson
So
let me tell you right up front...my shoulder
stink. They're among my worst and hardest to
develop bodyparts. Any strength I gain in them
tends to disappear quickly unless I keep up
the heavy training for them. Which is exactly
why, when I started using THIS version of the
barbell shoulder press, I was actually quite
surprised at how strong I was with it! I can
tell you honestly, your shoulder press training
weights will go up INSTANTLY when you use this
exercise.
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One-Legged
Glute Deadlifts - An Exercise That Will Kick Your Butt
By
Nick Nilsson
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Direct
glute training is VERY important for a variety
of reasons...lower body power, explosiveness,
posterior chain, and, of course, vanity...heck,
I wrote a book completely about building bigger
glutes! I recently (and totally by accident -
I was actually trying to do something else) discovered
a variation of the stiff-legged deadlift that
targets the glutes like a LASER beam...
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Power
Rack Dips - What To Do When You Don't Have Dipping Bars
By
Nick Nilsson
The
dip should be a staple of any complete
strength and muscle-building routine.
It's one of the best upper-body movements
you can do. But what do you do if you
don't have dipping bars in your gym?
Are you doomed to miss out on all the
incredible benefits this exercise has
to offer? Not anymore...
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One
Shoulder Barbell Squats - A TOTAL-Body Ab Exercise
By
Nick Nilsson
Here's another
entry into my long list of exercises that
work the abs while not looking at all
like an ab exercise! This
one is basically a squat...so how does
it work the abs? Very well, thanks! Seriously,
though, this exercise is EXTREMELY effective
at targeting the stabilizing and core
strength aspects of the abs. You'll be
doing a barbell squat but instead of supporting
the bar across your back in a "normal"
fashion, you will instead be resting it
on one shoulder, standing perpendicular
to the bar.
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Swiss
Ball Reverse Hyperextensions
By
Nick Nilsson
The
Reverse Hyperextension is a GREAT lower
back and posterior chain exercise (the muscles
that run along the back of the body). If
you've got lower back issues, it can be
very useful for deloading the spine and
getting some traction on the area. Typically,
you need to have a bench designed for the
exercise...and that's usually where the
problem with this exercise starts...not
many gyms have a Reverse Hyper bench!
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Side
Ball Push-Ups...A New Twist on a Classic Chest Exercise
By
Nick Nilsson
This is
one that is so completely obvious once
you see it in action, you'll probably
kick yourself if you've never tried
it before. It's going work your pecs
MUCH harder than regular push-ups, especially
if your triceps or shoulders have a
tendency to take over the movement.
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One
Arm Sandbag Cleans For Explosive Power
By
Nick Nilsson
Heaving
a sandbag up off the floor with
one arm and catching it is basically
this exercise. It's not fancy but
it's a GREAT way to build power
through your whole body.
To
do this one, obviously, you'll need
a sandbag...
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Heavy
Dumbell Slides - Good, Honest, Core Work...
By
Nick Nilsson
This
one isn't going to look like any ab
exercises you've ever seen...unless
you've seen my Dumbell Crawling exercise...then
you might be familiar with the concept.
Basically,
you're going to grab 2 heavy dumbells
(I'm using 125 lb dumbells in the
demo) and you're going to slide them
forward then backward across the floor.
Nothing
complex about this one...basically,
we're mimicking manual labor here
:)
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Dumbell
and Machine Squats
By
Nick Nilsson
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you're in the market for a leg exercise that will
REALLY push the limits of your leg capabilities,
the Dumbell and Machine Squat is an incredible
one. I don't use machines a lot but when I do,
it's generally to make things HARDER not easier... |
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One
Dumbell Shoulder Press
By
Nick Nilsson
This version
of the shoulder press resembles a "strongman"
type of movement where you're treating
the dumbell like an odd-shaped object
rather than a dumbell.
It a front-delt
accentuated type of exercise, similar
to an Arnold Press but without rotating
elbows around because they're set on
the dumbell (you'll see what I mean).
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Plank
One Arm Dumbell Rows
By
Nick Nilsson
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This
is a great exercise for not only working the back
but developing core strength and stability as
well.
You're
basically combining a one arm dumbell row with
what looks like a one arm plank exercise (the
ab exercise where you rest on your elbows and
toes while keep your body straight).
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Foot-To-Hand
Kettlebell Raises
By
Nick Nilsson
This
is a unique core exercise that
I think you'll really enjoy.
It not only challenges the core
but also your balance as you're
performing the exercise.
It also ties the hip flexors
in to the movement, which is
useful (ironically enough) because
so many people do crunches and
do everything they can to take
the hip flexors out of abdominal
movements, that sometimes the
hip flexors are actually UNDERdeveloped.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Close
Grip Push-Ups to Bodyweight Extensions
By
Nick Nilsson
Let me warn
you up front, this is a TOUGH tricep exercise.
It combines two of the very best bodyweight
tricep exercises you can (other than dips)
into an alternating-rep (inset superset)
exercise.
You can
do this one with your feet on the floor
to make it easier, just fyi...I'm using
a bench to set my feet on because I'm
insane and wanted to make things as hard
as possible, apparently...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Weighted
Abdominal Planks For Rock-Solid Core Strength
By
Nick Nilsson
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The plank is a classic
ab exercise. Simple...uses just bodyweight...very
effective. If you haven't seen it, basically lay
flat on your stomach on the floor then hold yourself
up on your forearms, keeping your body straight
like a plank.
Now it's time to
kick it up a notch, because you know me...I'm
all about taking the easy way out and doing things
like a "normal" person...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Bicep
Superset - Preachers To EZ Curls
By
Nick Nilsson
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This is one my favorite
"quick and easy" supersets for biceps
because you don't have to change weights or stations
or anything like that. It'll give your biceps
a great growth stimulation!
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Click
here to keep reading...
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When
Can You Have TOO Much Training Variety?
By
Nick Nilsson
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Yep, seems like
a strange question for someone like ME to be asking!
After all, with all the lunatic stuff I come up
with, you'd think I'd be a proponent of doing
something different every single day!
Oddly enough, even
though I have a TON of unique exercises, I have
training sessions where I do nothing but basic
stuff and don't even TRY to come up with new twists
on anything.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Band
Supported Dips to KILL Your Upper Body
By
Nick Nilsson
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Let me just start
by saying, even if you're STRONG with dips, this
exercise is going to challenge you like you're
never been challenged with a dip before. To
give you an idea, I can do 50 reps of bodyweight
dips but 5 reps on this version is tough.
But don't let that
scare you! You're going to LOVE this one. This
is GREAT exercise for the entire upper body.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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In-Rack
Dumbell Split Squats
By
Nick Nilsson
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The
dumbell split squat is one of my favorite leg
exercises - you can really work this one till
you fall down - I like it better than squats for
hitting the thighs hard, in fact.
This
variation of it gives you a few benefits on top
of the split squat on the floor - with a tradeoff...stability...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Kneeling
Sandbag Shouldering
By
Nick Nilsson
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So it's no secret
that I like using equipment that offers multiple
exercises. When it comes to THAT, the sandbag
is one of the kings of the hill. I HIGHLY recommend
grabbing one of these, if you don't already have
one. I have a bag filled with 70 lbs of sand.
It can be used for a TON of exercises (click
here to grab yours) and is EXTREMELY functional...this
exercise is no different!
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Front
to Back to Wide Stance Squats
By
Nick Nilsson
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This technique is
basically a "variation drop set", though
you could also call it a giant set (3 or more
exercises in a row with no rest). You're going
to be doing 3 different types of squats, using
the different leverages of each variation as the
drop instead of reducing weight. It's a pretty
straightforward concept once you see it in action...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Barbell
Weighted Chin-Ups
By
Nick Nilsson
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Need some extra
resistance for your Chin-Ups? This is a unique
way to do it that adds a balance component and
requires hamstring strength, making the exercise
more of a total-body type of exercise.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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MAX
Range Dumbell Squats
By
Nick Nilsson
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Let me just start
by saying when I say MAX range, I mean MAXIMUM
range! With this exercise, you are going to be
using a bench and dumbells to achieve a range
of motion in the squat far greater than what you
normally would use.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Heavy
Dumbell Swings
By
Nick Nilsson
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This is partly an
ab exercise, partly a leg exercise, partly a shoulder
exercise, partly a back exercise and very a much
a total-body exercise. The concept is simple...pick
up a single dumbell then swing it up as high as
you can in front of you! There are some tricks
to it, though...
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Click
here to keep reading...
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"Forehead
on Bench" Rowing
By
Nick Nilsson
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This is a technique
that solves several problems at once when it comes
to rowing with barbells and dumbells. The first
problem is how to maintain proper body position
when doing a barbell or dumbell row. The next
problem is how to work your neck without specifically
setting aside time to work your neck. This technique
adds direct neck work into your back work.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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How
To Do Barbell Cheat Curls
By
Nick Nilsson
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The Barbell Curl
is the king of bicep exercises. You want big biceps,
you do barbell curls. But when you get to a certain
level of development, the standard strict barbell
curl doesn't always give your biceps enough growth
stimulation to get the job done. That's
where the Barbell Cheat Curl comes in. Here's
the key...you're not cheating just to use more
weight.
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Front
and Back Grip Straddle Deadlifts, a.k.a. Jefferson Lifts
By
Nick Nilsson
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The deadlift is
without question, one of THE very best exercises
you can do. There are a ton of different variations
of the deadlift a person can do. I've got a good
one for you to try out!
This version of
the deadlift turns everything 90 degrees. Literally!
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Click
here to keep reading...
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Stiff-Legged
Deadlift Top Partials
By
Nick Nilsson
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The Stiff-Legged
Deadlift is an exercise I'm sure you'll recognize.
If you don't recognize it, then this is not really
a good exercise for you to try because it's going
to thoroughly overload the top range of motion
of it with VERY heavy weight!
This is a really
powerful technique - it's your basic top-range
partial movement but done using the top range
of the Stiff-Legged Deadlift (if you read the
title, you may have figured this out already...)
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Click
here to keep reading...
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