Five Angles

12.09.2020

Blog|Equipment

A man using the Pendulum Shoulder Incline

The bench press incline angle influences the electrical activity of the chest. The traditional horizontal bench press produces activity in three distinct areas of the pectoralis major that is, clavicular, sternal, and costal portions and involvement of the anterior deltoid.

As the inclination rises there becomes greater activation to the upper portions of the chest, this inclination is about 30 degrees. As the incline approaches 45 degrees the anterior deltoid becomes significantly higher and EMG measures decrease in all portions of the pectoralis major.

The Pendulum Shoulder Incline was designed to target the upper, middle and lower pec and train the middle and anterior deltoid. There are 5 distinct angles the machine can be set at to specifically exercise these areas to maximize development.

Pendulum Shoulder Incline

Level 3 Targeting the Upper Portion of the Pectoralis Major

6.2.2023

Closed And Open Chain

Open kinetic chain exercises of the lower limb are movements, where the distal segment is unloaded and free to move. The opposite is true of closed kinetic chain exercises, whereby there is enough resistance to prohibit free motion.

Closed kinetic chain exercises are movements such as squats, Pendulum Squat Pro, leg presses and lunges, while open chain exercises are actions like leg curls, leg extensions and the Pendulum Reverse Glute Ham.

The kinetic chain can be understood as interrelated joints and body parts working with one another during motion. This creates a chain of events that affects the movement of neighboring joints and segments.

The advantage of open chain movements is that they tend to be better at isolating muscle and often are selected for specific rehabilitation and used to accentuate performance. While closed chain movements in general would be classified as more functional and closely approximating movements that are used in sport and daily life.

Open Chain Reverse Glute Ham

Closed Chain Pendulum Power Squat Pro

Closed Chain Pendulum Power Squat Pro XT

5.11.2023

Arkansas Baseball Weight Room

5.11.2023

2-for-2 Method

Some trainers, coaches and athletes use what is called the 2-for-2 Method for increasing training load. The rule is if the trainee can perform two or more repetitions over one’s ‘repetition goal’ in the last set of an exercise, for two consecutive workouts, the weight is added for that particular exercise the next training session.