By Nick Nilsson
Author of Time-Volume Training
The most effective exercises and training techniques are the ones that push your body to the limit.
They activate more muscle fibers, challenge your balance and determination, and push your strength to the limit!
Oddly enough, they can also get you kicked out some gyms. (Not that I know this from personal experience or anything...)
These top 5 techniques are among THE very best for achieving the goals they're targeted for. Use them wisely!
1. Lockout Partial Squats
This exercise will draw the ire of any self-respecting gym owner, especially one that hasn't invested in good-quality, high weight-rated Olympic bars.
Why? Because, when you do this exercise with REALLY heavy weight (as you should for maximum effectiveness), your standard "el-cheapo" Olympic bar is going to BEND and bend PERMANENTLY.
If and when the gym management sees bent bars and you're the only one using really substantial weight on them...well, you get my drift.
So how do you do Lockout Partial Squats?
They're quite simple - basically, you set the safety rails in the power rack to just below the very top position of your squat. Then you set a bar on those rails. Then you pile a LOT of weight on (you can warm-up with what you would normally do for a one-rep max).
When the bar is set up, step underneath, get it set on your back then finish the lockout. Simple as that!
In this example, I'm using the lockout squat as a static hold, standing up with it then just supporting the weight at the top - I'm using 950 lbs on the bar (10 plates on either side) using a bar rated to 1500 lbs. As you can tell, I've learned my bar-bending lesson!
2. Fat-Loss Circuit Training
This is a training technique that is downright AMAZING for fat loss. It'll kick your metabolism into overdrive like nothing else. So why will it get you kicked out of a gym?
Let me tell you how it works first...
At its simplest, you're doing a regular weight workout, but instead of taking complete rest in between sets (e.g. do a set of 8 reps than sit on the bench for a minute doing nothing), you'll be doing 30 to 40 seconds of moderate intensity cardio training.
Here's what it would look like:
1 set of 8 reps bench press
40 seconds jogging on the treadmill
1 set of 8 reps bench press
40 seconds jogging on the treadmill
1 set of 8 reps bench press
40 seconds jogging on the treadmill
1 set of 8 reps bench press
40 seconds jogging on the treadmill
And so on, for the rest of the workout...
It is actually deceptively simple and seems relatively easy...but let me tell you, when you do this in a regular workout, it will AMAZE you with how strongly it revs up your metabolism.
You can read a more in-depth description of this technique in this article on Fat-Loss Circuit Training.
It's a technique I use in my "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss" program.
So why will this technique get you kicked out of the gym?
Well, as great as this technique is, it DOES require you to go back and forth between weights and cardio equipment. To do this (and this is normally only a problem if you train at a busy gym) you have to claim both a weight training area and a cardio machine. Most gyms frown on this type of thing, especially at a busy time. Chances are, your stations will be gone the moment you step away from them.
Fortunately, it's easy to remedy with a simple modification. Instead of using a machine for cardio, you can skip rope, step up and down on a bench or on stairs, or you can jog in place.
3. Power Cleans or Any Olympic Lifting In General
If you go to a Bally's, or another similar type of machine-oriented commercial gym, and start doing Power Cleans (or any Olympic lifts) in eyeshot of any of the "supervisors" or trainers, chances are good that you will be asked to stop (been there).
Why? Liability. You see, if YOU know what you're doing and you know how to perform the exercise safely, that's one thing.
But the other person WATCHING you do that exercise (who is probably not experienced enough to perform it safely) might just decide to try it out and hurt themselves.
And, of course, when that person does drop that barbell on their foot or wrench their back, they'll sue Bally's, which is what Bally's is REALLY worried about here.
The thing is, Power Cleans and Olympic lifts are GREAT for building explosive power. They're NOT dangerous at all when taught correctly and under knowledgeable supervision. In fact, injury rates in competitive weightlifting are actually much LESS than even something as simple as running!
It's all in proper instruction.
4. Backwards Treadmill Running And Walking For TORCHING The Quads
You may now know this but the treadmill can actually be a GREAT muscle-building tool...it's just not immediately obvious HOW.
You see, if you've got stubborn quads, part of the problem is probably blood supply. Most lagging muscle groups correlate with poor blood supply.
Think of it this way...which of your bodyparts pump up most easily? Which ones are the hardest to pump up? Now which ones develop the most easily? I can tell you with near certainty, your muscles that pump most easily also develop most easily.
Back to the treadmill. Most people face forwards when using the treadmill, which is fine...even encouraged, if you will.
But turn yourself around and run or walk on the treadmill facing BACKWARDS (and set the machine to a high incline) and you've got yourself an exercise that will quite simply TORCH the quads more than you will believe.
And in the process of this torching, you are going RAM more blood into your quads than you can with pretty much any other exercise. This dramatic increase in blood flow will actually help improve overall circulation to the quads, which will help with future muscle growth.
Very effective stuff...
So why could this training technique get you kicked out of a gym?
Well, standing backwards on a treadmill does increase the overall general risk of even using a treadmill in the first place. This is why you MUST hold solidly onto the rails as you're running or walking on it. You should, at any given moment, be able to instantly support yourself on the rails and step off the belt.
But most gyms don't have this level of trust in their members. Even a perfectly safe and effective technique like this may fall within the reasoning of "different = bad."
Here's the thing...when you hold the rails solidly while using this technique (and you can step off at any given moment), I think it's actually SAFER than running FORWARDS on the treadmill.
5. Deadlifts
The deadlift is one of my favorite exercises...there's just something so satisfying about grabbing a really heavy bar and lifting it off the ground. There's no middle ground...you either lift it or you don't. And the crazy thing is, I HAVE almost gotten kicked out of more than one gym for doing plain old deadlifts!
The first time was at a gym in Ft. Lauderdale. I was doing deadlifts, minding my own business, not slamming the bar to the ground or dropping it or anything like that, when the attendant came over and said:
"I'm sorry. We don't allow deadlifts in this gym. They make too much noise."
And I actually felt sorry for the poor guy who had to come up and tell me this...I could tell by the look in his face he knew what a stupid rule and stupid reason it was but he had no choice but to enforce it.
(Apparently the coffee shop on the first floor below didn't realize there was a GYM upstairs when they opened up and would complain constantly about noise...)
So I asked him "How about if I just do deadlifts but don't set the weight on the ground in between reps AND I'll be very gentle when I DO set it down at the end of the set. You won't hear a peep."
I demonstrated a set of continuous-tension deadlifts (which are a GREAT variation of the deadlift, by the way...you do the exercise but never let the weight plates touch the ground between reps...VERY tough to do with heavy weight).
He looked suspicious but said that was okay and I was able to finish my training for the day without getting tossed out.
The second time was at Gold's Gym in Nassau, Bahamas. On this occasion, I was doing heavy singles - still not slamming the weight down or dropping it. Then, in between sets over the loudspeaker, I hear...
"Please do not drop weights on the floor...it distracts other gym members."
So I keep going thinking, hey, I'm not dropping weights on the floor. I'm just setting the bar down doing heavy singles. So I keep going and AGAIN over the loudspeaker I hear (in an EXTREMELY snotty voice now)...
"Gym users who drop weights on the floor will be asked to leave the premises."
Disgusted, I unloaded the bar, set the safety rails on the nearest rack to just below lockout position, put 10 plates on either side then proceeded to bend the ever-loving CRAP out of that bar with the lockout partial squats from example #1 in this article...
I'm just kidding! I really only used 9 plates...
The one gym I've never managed to get kicked out of is my own home gym.
Here are 4 insane bodyweight exercises I SHOULD have gotten kicked out for doing...
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