Author: Robert Palmer

Author’s note: This article is the second post in the series, “The Beauty of the Reverse-Band Back Squat.” You can find the series’ first installment here.   The reverse-band back squat might seem like a back squat with a hyphenated prefix, but it’s more than that. With the bands attached to the top of the squat rack and the barbell, the bands tighten… Read more →

I have a confession to make: I haven’t done a back squat in at least two years. I also haven’t recommended anyone do them unless they absolutely needed to do them (e.g., he or she is a powerlifter, is required to do it for team testing, etc). It’s not because I have an injury that prevents me from doing them,… Read more →

You might be familiar with the advice to take a deep breath (or ten) when you’re feeling angry in order to help calm yourself down. Implicit in that advice is the belief that “the physical,” which, in this instance, is breathing, can affect “the mental.” Likewise, if you’ve ever felt nervous, such as before a public speaking engagement, an exam, or a… Read more →

Throwing a baseball isn’t necessarily difficult. Understanding the anatomy and biomechanics of throwing a baseball often is–take it from me. Despite my stellar little league baseball career (note: I’m only being a little sarcastic, since, at least by my own account,  I had a respectable little league career), my knowledge of what was actually happening anatomically and biomechanically when someone threw… Read more →

In the past few years, I’ve seen a lot of people proclaim something to the effect of “sitting is the new smoking” or “sitting is killing you”. I’m aware that in attempting to at least partially endorse this view I might come off as just another person who’s repeating the same sensational phrases, but I’ll do my best to make my position perfectly clear.… Read more →

Based on how often people ask me whether or not to do high reps or low reps to “get big,” I expect there’s some confusion on the matter. Should someone who wants to gain muscle perform sets with relatively light weights and high repetitions (i.e., “chase the pump”), or use heavier weights for fewer repetitions? For better or worse, dear reader, I won’t lie to you… Read more →

Today’s post will piggy-back off of the piece Peter recently wrote regarding the pros and cons of the bench press.  I hope to keep it short and sweet.  Or perhaps just short; we shall see.   A few years ago I read an article by Christian Thibaudeau in which he wrote that he had stopped performing the conventional bench press.… Read more →

I expect that the majority of people who read the title of this post thought something akin to, “What the heck is a feet-elevated reverse inchworm, and if it’s so awesome then why haven’t I heard about it before?” The answer to the latter part of the question is that I made up the exercise. In fact, I just googled “feet-elevated… Read more →