Barbell Antagonist Super

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, soft knees, hands on hips or out to the sides.

Circle your hips slowly in one direction, keeping the upper body relatively still.

Make the circles as large and smooth as feels good.

After several circles, reverse direction.

Breathe and keep the movement fluid.

Stand tall with arms extended straight out to the sides.

Make small forward circles with your arms.

Let the circles grow a little as the shoulders warm up.

Reverse direction and make backward circles.

Keep shoulders down and core braced.

Breathe steadily.

Lie on the bench with eyes under the bar, feet on the floor. Grip about shoulder-width. Unrack and hold the bar over the chest with locked elbows. Shoulder blades stay on the bench.

Lower the bar to mid-chest. Elbows stay under the bar. Wrists stay stacked over the elbows, not folded back.

Pause a breath on the chest. Press to lockout. Exhale as you press.

Keep the bar over mid-chest — not toward the face, not toward the belly.

Rack the bar the same way you unracked it. A spotter is welcome.

Stop or drop to a floor press if the shoulders pinch or the wrists fold back.

Hold the bar with hands about shoulder-width, palms down. Soft knees, hinge until the torso is roughly 45 degrees or a little higher, back flat.

Let the bar hang under the shoulders. Brace the core. Neck long.

Pull the bar to the lower ribs by driving the elbows back and squeezing the shoulder blades. Do not yank with the arms alone.

Pause a breath at the top. Torso does not bounce.

Lower the bar under control until the arms are long. Inhale on the way down, exhale as you pull.

If the back rounds or you have to heave the torso, raise the torso, lighten the bar, or switch to Dumbbell Rows.

Set the bar on a rack at about mid-chest. Step under it so it sits on the upper traps (high-bar), not on the neck. Hands even, squeeze the bar, lift it off, and take two quiet steps back.

Feet about shoulder-width, toes slightly out. Brace the core as if you are about to be poked in the stomach. Chest proud, eyes forward.

Sit the hips back and down. Knees track over the toes. Heels stay on the floor.

Lower only as far as the spine stays long and the heels stay down. Parallel is a useful target, not a test.

Drive through the mid-foot to stand. Keep the bar over mid-foot. Exhale as you rise.

Reset the brace at the top. Rack the bar the same way you unracked it. Stop or regress if the knees cave, the heels lift, or the back rounds.

Stand tall holding the bar against the thighs, hands just outside the legs, soft knees, shoulder blades set.

Brace, then hinge at the hips — push the hips back as if closing a door with your glutes. The bar stays in contact with the legs.

Lower only while the back stays flat and you feel the hamstrings load. Mid-shin is plenty.

Do not squat the bar down. Shins stay fairly vertical. Neck stays long, eyes a few metres ahead.

Squeeze the glutes to stand tall. The bar traces the same path up. Exhale as you rise.

Reset at the top. If the lower back rounds or the bar drifts forward, shorten the range or switch to the dumbbell version.

Bar at the front of the shoulders, hands just outside them, elbows slightly in front of the bar. Feet about hip-width. Squeeze the glutes and brace the core.

Press the bar straight up. As it passes the head, move the head through so the bar finishes over mid-foot, not out in front.

Lock the elbows without shrugging the shoulders into the ears. Ribs stay down — no laid-back lean.

Lower the bar to the shoulders under control. Inhale as you lower, exhale as you press.

Keep the wrists stacked over the elbows. Do not flare the ribs to finish a heavy rep.

Stop or sit the press if the lower back arches. The dumbbell press is a full win, not a consolation.