Machine Trunk Rotation

2019-03-242018-08-07 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Attention

Torso’s rotation in the machine are proscribed for people suffering from lower back or having already had a herniated disc, as they might aggravate or reappear this lumbar pathology.

Standing on the turntable with your hands on the handles :

Rotate your pelvis from one side to the other, keeping your shoulders fixed and controlling the rotation. Your knees are slightly bent to avoid the risk of ligament stretching.

This exercise works mainly external and internal obliques and a little less rectus abdominis. Sets with high reps give better results.

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-Steph

Roman Chair Side Bends

2019-03-242018-06-21 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

This exercise is working on the bench originally planned for lumbar extension.

Put yourself on the side with your hip on the bench and your torso in the void. Your hands are behind your head or on your torso and your feet are wedged under the pads :

Do a lateral flexion of your torso upwards.

This movement works mainly obliques and rectus abdominis on the side of flexion. But obliques and rectus abdominis on the opposite side also works by making static contraction (isometric contraction) to prevent your torso from falling below the horizontal.

Note

During the lateral flexions of your torso, quadratus lumborum muscle works always.

Share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph

Exercise To Avoid Overhead Shoulder Press Pain

2019-03-242018-06-20 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE. I watched an Athlean-X’s video and I learned some good stuff.

I have a little pain when I do dumbbell press or overhead shoulder press, maybe you have that pain too ? As I want to avoid having surgery like the majority of professional athletes, I tried to find out if I could find an alternative exercise to work the same muscles without pain.

This shoulder pain during this exercise is a real problem, because it’s a movement that is so advised to do to develop shoulders that the majority of people continue to do despite the pain. The longer a person continues to do this exercise with the pain and the more the person, several years later, will need to do a surgery to the damaged shoulder. It’s sad because people keep doing this exercise because they don’t know (like me at the beginning) that there are alternative exercises.

Pain

For me, I felt the pain at the starting position, it means with a dumbbell in each hand, dumbbells at the level of my ears or a little above my shoulders and my elbow at the outside. It was impossible for me to keep this position for more than 5 seconds and after a few reps, I felt less pain. A few months later, I changed the starting position. I started with my arms outstretched but the pain was still there. The feeling of pain is really bizarre because sometimes, I felt that my shoulders could be dislocated with heavyweight.

Solution

The idea is to do this exercise with the elbows forward because the pain is due to instability of the rotator cuff. In fact, this pain appears on the weakest shoulder.

This exercise has no official name and has a lot of variation but the best known name is barbell corner press. You need to use a barbell and put it in a corner of the gym. If you do this at home, I advise you to put a blanket in the corner of the wall to not damage the wall. Put a plate of 10kg (22lbs) or 20kg (45lbs) on the opposite side :

Lift the barbell with your 2 hands with a squat position to protect your back. Stand up with your torso leaning forward, your back straight, one leg forward and your hands almost on your torso with your elbows forward.

Press straight up overhead and exhale

Back to the start position and inhale

You can also do this exercise with one hand. Barbell corner press is an alternative exercise to dumbbell press or overhead shoulder press to continue developing your shoulders without pain and without sacrificing your shoulders.

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-Steph

Dumbbell Side Bends

2019-03-242018-06-18 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Standing wit your legs slightly apart with one hand behind your head and a dumbbell in the other hand :

Do a lateral flexion of your torso on the opposite side of the dumbbell
Return to the start position or go beyond it by doing a passive flexion of your torso.
Alter the sets by changing the dumbbell aside without recovery time.

This exercise works mainly on the flexion side obliques and a little bit rectus abdominis, deep muscles of the back and quadratus lumborum.

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-Steph

Bank Online Peer-To-Peer (Part 1)

2018-06-15 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE !

Today, in my workout program (tracked with JeFit ), I did shoulders, traps, calves and forearms. My muscles gains in forearms are slow but it’s cool, it’s the process. I didn’t use weight to train my flexors and extensors of my forearms so it take time. I started it since for 1 month. I hurt my right knee during a box sparring 1 month ago and now I can lift heavyweight on my left. Yeah back to do squat, leg press with one leg and deadlift. I’m happy.

Cryptocrurrency

Since 4 months, I think to buy cryptocurrency, espacially Ethereum . I’m more interested by Ethereum than Bitcoin, because with Ethereum you can make smart contract. By example, you and your friend make a bet on a match (basket, soccer, box, whatever). You don’t want to make a bet with a bookmaker because the charge are too high. With the smart I’ve seen, you can program something like this : « If Team A wins, the loser’s money is automatically transferred to the winner’s Ethereum account at the end of the match ». All without charge. In the smart contract that I saw, the 2 people had an Ethereum account.

The principle of cryptocurrency is to transfer money or buy something without a third part (bank or financial service) because charges increase year after year. In few months, I will buy a Ledger Nano S (usb wallet for cryptocurrency)

Digital Bank

Because of cryptocurrency, I thought : « Is it possible to have a bank account and transfer money without a third part ? ». I have a Paypal account but I mean a real bank account with a debit card, you dig ? After watched an Oliver Roland’s video , I discovered 2 bank online with debit card or precisely pre-paid debit card. It’s Transferwise and Revolut .

I read articles about the difference on the 2 and Revolut is excellent for people who travel a lot to avoid high currency exchange fees (even cash machine) when abroad and Transferwise is excellent for international money transfer with the lowest charge. Transferwise and Revolut have app on GooglePlay/AppStore and a deal with MasterCard for the pre-paid debit card.

2 days ago, I opened a Transferwise’s account (multi-currency) without meet somebody, I did everything online. I create an account like the majority of web services with a form and I gave them a scan of my ID and a scan of a bank statement to confirm my address. I received a confirmation by email less than 5 work day week. I’ll put money on this account in few days and I will ask to have a pre-paid debit card.

By looking a little more on Transferwise (because this company created in 2011), I understood that it could be beneficial for people who use Western Union or Ria to send money to parents living in the native country. My parents did it. You see, if you’re an immigrant or an expat it could be more avantageous about international money transfer fees. A story about the co-founder Kristo Käärmann (from Estonia) is he was working in the UK and was losing a lot of money transferring cash back home to pay for a mortgage. It can be also interesting in this case.

In January 2018, Transferwise launched the Mastercard pre-paid debit card, I really curious to use it to see how it work. As I told you, it’s been 2 days that I have my Transferwise’s account, that’s why this article is Part 1. I’ll give my point of view on Transferwise soon. And I think to open a Revolut’s account in few months.

Share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph

Broomstick Twists

2019-03-242018-06-14 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Standing with your legs apart and the stick placed on your trapezius above your posterior deltoids. Your hands are on the stick but don’t press on it :

Make a torso rotation on one side then the other, keeping your pelvis motionless with an isometric contraction of your glutes.

This exercise works when your right shoulder is forward : the right external oblique, left internal oblique and a little bit rectus abdominis, quadratus lumborum and extensor spinae on the left side.

For more intensity, it’s possible to slightly round your back. A variant is to do this movement sitting on a bench, which will block your pelvis and focus the effort on your abs.

It’s with sets of several minutes that you get the best results.

Attention

Torso rotations are prohibited for people suffering from low back or having had a herniated disc as this may aggravate or resurgence of this lumbar pathology.

Share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph

Hanging Leg Raises

2019-03-242018-06-13 by Steph

What’s up ? This is THE stephane ANDRE ! I read a Frederic Delavier’s book « Strength Training Anatomy » and I learned good stuff.

Suspended on a chin-up bar :

Inhale and back up your knees as high as possible by approaching your knees to your torso.
Exhale at the end of the movement

This exercise works :

The iliopsoas, rectus femoris, tensor fasciae latae when you raise your legs.
The rectus abdominis and a little less obliques work when you move your knees to your torso.

To target the work on abs, it’s advisable to make small oscillations of thighs without never having the knees below the horizontal.

Attention

Rotations of the torso to the machine are proscribed for people suffering from low back or having already had a herniated disc.

Variant

By raising your knees on the side alternately to the right and to the left, obliques work more intensely.

Abdominal lumbar balance

It’s necessary to work in a balanced way the abdominal’s muscles and the back’s muscles (erector spinae). A lack of tone of hypertonicity of one of these two muscle groups can create a bad posture, and over time, create pathologies.

Example

Hypertonicity of the lower part of the erector spinae (sacro lumbar mass) with a hypotonicity of the muscles of the abdomen, will create a hyperlordosis with an abdominal ptosis. This postural defect can sometimes (if it is taken in time) be diminished by exercises of reinforcement of the abdominal muscles.

Conversely, hypertonicity of the abdominal muscles with loosening (hypotonicity) of the erectors spinae, especially in the upper part (multifidus spinae, longissimus, iliocostalis), will create a kyphosis (rounding back ) with loss of lumbar vertebral arch. This postural defect can sometimes (if it taken in time) be diminished by exercises of reinforcement of erectors spinae muscles.

Subscribe to my newsletter and share this article if you think it can help someone you know. Thank you.

-Steph