Day 27 - Skullcrushers

Difficulty - Moderate
Muscle Groups Addressed - Delts, Triceps, Lats

A favorite I picked up from a friend in college, these are named for the absolute opposite of what you're supposed to do! In the gym, pick a dumbell or barbell weight that you can curl comfortably. Lie down on a bench and put your feet flat on the floor. Grip the weight with both hands and hold it above your chest.

To execute this exercise, you can perform it one of two ways.

1.) Keeping your upper arms and elbows locked in place, slowly bring the weight directly down to your forehead (hence, skullcrushers) but do not touch your forehead and, goes without saying, definitely don't DROP it to your forehead, unless you're training for a headbutting competition. You should feel tension solely in your triceps. The motion looks like this:

2.) To take some tension out of your elbows, and to work more secondary muscles, you can also perform the exercise by keeping your arms locked and bringing the weight behind your head in a sweeping motion. You should still feel this in your triceps, but also in your lats (upper back) and delts (front shoulders).

Perform the same motion with a ream of papers or a heavy book at your desk. Sit up tall in your chair. For the first variation, bring the book from behind your head, straight to the ceiling. For the second variation, bring the book from behind your head down to your lap and up again. Good luck, and in the immortal words of Tony Horton... "Don't smash your face!"

Day 21 - Corn Cob Pull-ups

Difficulty - Advanced
Muscle Groups Addressed - Delts, Lats, Pecs, Biceps, Back

Had to throw another P90X favorite your way. The corn cob pullup is a juiced up version of the timeless classic. Before we dive in, perhaps a little basics tutorial on the multiple variations of grips you can use for a pull-up. Based on your grip, you can target multiple different muscle groups and adjust the intensity of the exercise.

Supinated (palms up) grip = Chin-up (more biceps, easier)

• Chin-up with narrow grip - 4-6 inches apart; engages forearms more
• Chin-up with neutral grip - ~12 inches apart; overloads elbows, heavy use of biceps
• Chin-up with wide grip - 12-24 inches apart; engages

Pronated (palms down) grip = Pull-up (more back, harder)

• Pull-up with narrow grip - Emphasizes lower lats and works biceps due to ineffective angle
• Pull-up with neutral grip - Overloads forearms and shoulder stabilizers, heavy use of the back
• Pull-up with wide grip - Emphasizes upper lats and upper pectorals

If you're not at the stage where you can do a full pull-up, put a chair underneath and support yourself with one or both feet.

Just make sure no matter which variation you're performing, you come all the way to the bottom and fully extend your arms. If you don't, you're not getting the most out of the exercise and you're neglecting all your synergist and dynamic stabilizer muscle groups. Also, try not to "kip", or use a jerking motion (momentum) to get yourself over the bar. Nice, slow, controlled movements will maximize the benefit of this exercise.

For corn-cobs, choose your grip and hang down with your arms fully extended. Slowly raise yourself up until your head is over the bar. Once you reach the top, in an isometric hold, shift your body to the left, then shift your body to the right, then come back to the center. Now, slowly release and lower your body down to a full hanging position. Repeat as many reps as you can. Again, the home/work version is exactly the same, you just have to find a doorframe or a pipe to hang from (careful to make sure it's not a heated pipe...)

Day 17 - Suspended Leg Raise

Difficulty - Moderate/Advanced
Muscle Groups Addressed - Core, Shoulders, Lats, Biceps

The first suspended/pull-up exercise! Wooooot! To those of you who would retort, "but I don't have a pull-up bar!" I say pish-posh. There's always something to hang from. A doorframe, tree branch, a tall friend's bicep. Just find something above your head and get to danglin'!


We'll start with a simple hang. With hands shoulder-width apart, just hang down from your surface of choice. Here, I'm suspended from my door frame, with my toes on the floor. For this exercise, it's fine if you toe-tap in between reps, if only to keep yourself from swinging.

Now slowly lift your feet upwards. Attempt to keep your knees locked, legs straight as you do so. Lower your legs back down to a hanging position (tap your toes to steady yourself) and then repeat. Shoot for 8-10 repetitions.

For an advanced version and to really engage your lats, pull yourself up part way, so that your biceps and forearms are locked at a 90 degree angle. Now perform the leg lift exercise the same way, but keeping your arms locked at the top. Yikes!