Hybrid Training for Fat Loss
But literally COMBINING two different forms of resistance into one exercise? THIS is not something you see every day. And, strictly speaking, even the concept of combining two different forms of resistance itself isn't new - band training is a TREMENDOUSLY effective way to increase bench press, squats and deadlifts. Powerflifters do this all the time.
The idea I had was to not only ADD another form of resistance but also change the DIRECTION that secondary form of resistance was coming from.
This idea first occurred to me when I was doing dumbbell presses. I thought to myself, "hmmm...I'm getting great tension at the bottom of the exercise...I wonder if there's a way that I can increase the tension at the top, too?"
So I went over to the cable cross-over machine and set the two handles on the low pulleys. I set the bench in the very center then reached over and grabbed the one pulley handle, then reached over and grabbed the other. After sitting back up on the bench, I then leaned forward and picked up the dumbbells.
What followed was one of THE most eye-opening sets of bench press I had EVER done...
Picture this...when you're doing a dumbbell bench press, you get maximum tension at the bottom of the exercise. But as you press up to the top, the leverage changes and you lose most of that tension. By the time you're at the top of the exercise, you've lost pretty much all of it unless you're actively squeezing the muscles.
Now picture this...when you're doing a flat bench cable flye exercise (which is same as dumbbell flyes but with cables), you get practically NO tension at the bottom, but, as you bring your hands together above, you get MAXIMUM tension at the top, with the cables pulling directly out to the sides.
Got those two exercises visualized in your head? Good. Now mash them together...
Imagine the cable handles AND dumbbells in your hands AT THE SAME TIME.
This time, when you do the press, you're going to get maximum tension from the dumbbells at the bottom and almost no tension from the cables.
But, as you press up and lose tension in the dumbbell press, the CABLE tension starts kicking in. By the time you've hit the top, the cables are at MAXIMUM tension.
The result? A dumbbell bench press where your pecs get NO BREAK WHATSOEVER. The tension is just INCREDIBLE. I would say that one of these sets is worth THREE normal sets.
When I did this exercise for the very first time (and naturally, because it felt so good, I did too many sets!), I couldn't bring my arms across my body without them starting to shake.
And, of course, I couldn't stop there. I went ahead and came up with exercises like this for the ENTIRE body.
The Verdict:
A definite winner! This training technique has tremendous potential for increasing strength and muscle mass fast. I train with this technique regularly and, let me tell you, I KNOW there's a difference in how these exercises affect muscle growth and strength compared to standard exercises.
If you're interested in checking out a bicep exercise using this technique, check out this article:
Cable-Barbell Curls - "Hybrid Training" For Incredible Biceps!
And if you're interested in learning more about the rest of these "Hybrid" exercises I mentioned, check out the e-book "Hybrid Training."
It has ALL the exercises I've come up with using this technique, covering the ENTIRE body. This is POWERFUL stuff.
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