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9 Best T-Bar Row Alternatives to Try at the Gym or Home

February 8, 2021 By Jess Billitz

T-bar rows are like the Wheaties of back day: The #1 choice of champions, the only way to start a morning off right, and the 2021 version of finding an 11th-century relic on an archaeological dig.

Get the picture?

T-bars rows are the undisputed “cure” to a weak back, sculpting unbelievably dense muscles from the traps and lats to the rhomboids and rear deltoids.

But most home (and even some authentic) gyms willingly axed their T-bar stations and left dedicated gym rats wondering, “What’s next?”

These nine T-bar row alternatives are the next best thing.

Let’s review what they are, which muscles they target, and how to do ‘em!

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Jeff Nippard’s Fundamentals Hypertrophy Program [Review]

February 8, 2021 By Jess Billitz

The online fitness community is like a clouded wasteland, flooded with dozens of hidden traps targeting unsuspecting explorers (questionable “magic cures” that lure gains-chasers astray).

Boom … “Perform these five exercises, and gain 20 pounds of pure muscle mass in 90 days!”

Thwack … “Want the secret to cannonball delts and 15” pythons? This rep range is the answer!”

Sign me up!

The blind trust you place in those bodybuilding forums — and even some big-name health junkies schilling sponsored products — leaves you 90 days older with almost 0% progress.

Looking through the haze and discovering the true hypertrophy code requires yet another leap of faith. Jeff Nippard’s Fundamentals Hypertrophy Program may very well be your clarity.

Let’s rummage through this beefy 97-page e-book and examine its potential!

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John Meadows Program Review: Baby Groot by Mountain Dog

February 8, 2021 By Jess Billitz

When Guardians of the Galaxy hit the silver screen in 2014, one unlikely character grabbed the most fanfare: Baby Groot (of the later “I am Groot” meme).

With a bizarrely muscular physique, this mini tree-like species lived in the shadows of the OG Groot, credited with being invincible, courageous, and able to regenerate post-damage.

Are you prepared to unearth your inner-Baby Groot?

Championship bodybuilder John Meadows certainly thinks so! He recently launched this (vaguely) Marvel-themed hypertrophy program for novices unleashing their mass potential.

Get ready for … Baby Groot by Mountain Dog.

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Ascent Native Fuel Whey Protein Powder Review

February 1, 2021 By Jess Billitz

A trip to the Vitamin Shoppe (or even the fitness aisle of a retail store) is supposed to be exciting. Dozens of options, flavors galore, and almost guaranteed gains on the horizon.

But then … you flip those 4-pound tubs around and scan the labels.

80mg of cholesterol?

Maltodextrin?

190 calories per serving?

Choosing a new whey protein powder winds up being a “lesser of two evils” scenario. If you want the mass, you have to make nutritional sacrifices elsewhere (right?).

Note quite.

From the “Official Sponsor of Hard Work” comes Ascent Native Fuel Whey Protein Powder. Now, does this rare “clean” supplement deliver on its expectations?

We’re about to find out!

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An Aesthetic Shoulder Workout for Mass (Bigger Delts)

February 1, 2021 By Jess Billitz

No matter what you call ‘em — shoulder caps, boulders, cannonballs, even coconuts (if you’re feeling a little risqué) — the shoulders are the black sheep of the upper body.

They earn a nice residual pump as you crank out incline bench presses and cable rows. But by the time you load the bar for military presses, those delicate deltoids are already destroyed.

Fight through the fatigue in the name of volume — risk overtraining or injury.

Sideline the delts altogether — never achieve bulky shoulders and that glorious V-taper.

Welcome, the newest addition to your current mass-building split … Josh England’s Cannonball Delts: The Ultimate 12 Week Shoulder Building Program.

Check out this aesthetic shoulder workout for mass (and pure deltoid destruction)!

[Read more…]