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Articles By Nick Nilsson


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About The Author

Nick Nilsson is the Director of Online Operations for Staley Training Systems. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing powerful new training techniques for more than 18 years.

Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks (listed below) all available by clicking here and has written for a variety of publications including Men's Fitness, Reps, Musclemag, Bodybuilding.com and many others. He can be contacted at nick@staleytraining.com.

Articles - 2008 Archive

 

One Side Loaded Barbell Squats
By Nick Nilsson

This exercise is a very simple but VERY effective way to really hit your core strongly. It looks like squat, stands like a squat, and IS a squat but it doesn't really work the legs!

Pretty simply, you're going to just load ONE side of the bar with 25 to 45 lbs or so. Start towards the lighter end until you get an idea of how the balance on this exercise works.

Click here to keep reading...

Low-Pulley Push-Ups
By Nick Nilsson

Push-ups are obviously a classic exercise - when you think bodyweight training, it's usually one of the first exercises you think of.

But, of course, I've got a new twist on the regular push-up that will just TRASH your pecs...much better than regular push-ups even though the exercise is pretty much exactly the same!

Click here to keep reading...

Zercherish Front Squats
By Nick Nilsson

This exercise is not quite a Zercher squat (where you hold the barbell cradled in the crooks of your elbows, down by your stomach) and not quite a front squat. It's basically a combination of BOTH, where you're supporting in the crooks of your elbows but at shoulder height like a front squat. This hits the abdominal wall HARD...

Click here to keep reading...

Ballistic Bench Press Warm-Up
By Nick Nilsson

When you do a typical bench press rep, it's a little known fact that a good percentage of the last part of the movement (as you come to lockout) is used by the body to decelerate the bar. The lighter the weight you use, the greater this percentage is. The heavier you go, the lower this percentage is.

I'm going to show you to warm-up to minimize that inhibition...admittedly, it doesn't SOUND glamorous but it can immediately increase your bench press numbers!

Click here to keep reading...

Barbell Pike Handstand Push-Ups
By Nick Nilsson

Bodyweight exercises are a special breed. They're just so effective for building functional strength and and muscle mass. This exercise is no exception.

If you're familiar with the handstand push-up, you know how stupid hard it is to do properly and with full range reps, especially the very first time you do them. THIS variation is going to fix that...

Click here to keep reading...

Seated Deadlifts - Attack Your Lower Back!
By Nick Nilsson

So I know you're already thinking, how in the heck can a person do deadlifts in a seated position? Easy! You just need something to sit down on...

But first, what's the point of doing deadlifts in a seated position? Well, this is an especially useful exercise when you want to directly train the lower back for the top half of the deadlift. If you have trouble with the lockout portion, this is a great exercise to work at.

Click here to keep reading...

One Arm Barbell Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
By Nick Nilsson

The Stiff-Legged Deadlift is one of the best posterior-chain exercises you can do (posterior chain is all the muscle running down the back of your body from the traps, spinal erectors, glutes, hams, down to calves). There are plenty of variations of it out there but here's one you may not have seen before...

Click here to keep reading...

Power Rack Weighted Push-Ups
By Nick Nilsson

This is a GREAT technique to add resistance to the push-up while getting the fiber-activating bodyweight-exercise benefits of the push-up at the same time!...

Click here to keep reading...

Donkey Barbell Squats For MONSTER Legs
By Nick Nilsson

This is an INCREDIBLE leg exercise. Let me just say that up front. If you're looking for a way to truly trash your legs, this one will push you right to the edge. It allows you to use extremely heavy weight but in such a manner that you can hit failure at the BOTTOM and be done with the set by just falling down, rather than with a standard squat where you have to get the bar up to the top and re-rack it. Not necessary here. You can push till you fall down, which to my mind, makes it a great leg exercise :)

Click here to keep reading...

Nilsson Curls - The Best Bicep Exercise EVER...
By Nick Nilsson

If you want to TRULY maximize your bicep mass, you're going to LOVE this exercise. It's one of my very favorite for building biceps. The reason I named it after myself is that it basically summarizes what I'm all about - doing everything completely "backwards" and getting MUCH better results!..

Click here to keep reading...

Bar-on-Back Close Grip Push-Ups
By Nick Nilsson

I'm a big fan of bodyweight exercises...they're among THE most effective exercises for building functional strength and mass.

But what do you do when bodyweight just isn't enough to keep on getting growth and strength increases? One of the ways I like to tackle that is to find ways to actually add weight to exercises that would normally only be bodyweight.

Click here to keep reading...

Swiss Ball Get-Ups With Barbell, Dumbells & Kettlebells
By Nick Nilsson

You may have heard of an exercise knows as the Turkish Get-Up. It's a simple exercise. Basically, you start from lying on the floor and holding a dumbell up at arms length. Now, keeping that dumbell at arms length, you get up to a standing position. This is a great exercise for developing real-world strength...

Click here to keep reading...

Sideways Barbell End Lunges
By Nick Nilsson

This is an excellent one for developing the lateral aspect of the hips and thighs. It's basically a lunge (or more accurately, a step-back lunge) movement. But instead of holding dumbells in your hands or a weight across your back, you're going to be using a whole NEW type of set-up...

Click here to keep reading...

Time/Volume Training For Mass
By Nick Nilsson

This is a great training concept that I've been using recently that I came up with as a way to get mass-building effects out of bodyweight exercises that I could do a lot of reps with. It's a type of training you could easily build a more comprehensive program on simply by extending the concept.

Click here to keep reading...

Barbell-Down-the-Back Donkey Calf Raises
By Nick Nilsson

The Donkey Calf Raise is simply one of THE best exercises for developing the calves. The reason is the great stretch you can put on the calves at the bottom of every single rep. But here's the problem...what do you do when you don't have a donkey calf raise machine OR a partner to sit on your back

Click here to keep reading...

Dumbell Rotational Sets For ROCK-SOLID Core Strength
By Nick Nilsson

Honestly, I had no idea what to call this one - feel free to make up your own name! It's a GREAT core-strengthening exercise that hits the rotational and support functions of the area...

Click here to keep reading...

Make Your Own Thick Handles
By Nick Nilsson

One of the single most effective ways to build hand and grip strength is by using thick handled equipment. It's one of the secrets of building a strong grip! You can buy thick bars and thick handled dumbells but what do you do if can't afford to buy those things or train in a commerical gym and don't want to bring your own equipment...

Click here to keep reading...

Flexed Arm Hanging Leg Raises To TRASH Your Abs...in a GOOD Way....
By Nick Nilsson

The hanging leg raise is one of the most commonly used lower ab exercises you'll see in the gym. As tough as it is, it can be done much more effectively with a small modification. Instead of hanging down with your arms straight, do the hanging leg raise in the Flexed Arm Hang position!

Click here to keep reading...

Shoulder Dumbell Squats - Legs, Core, Shoulders, This Hits It ALL...
By Nick Nilsson

This is a great leg and core exercise - VERY challenging even though you're using lighter dumbells than you normally could for a "standard" dumbell squat. Basically, with this exercise, you're not going to hold the dumbells at your sides at arms length (which I've also thought was more of a dumbell deadlift anyway, rather than a squat, which is what a lot of people call it)...

Click here to keep reading...

Barbell-Braced Stiff-Legged Deadlifts - MAXIMIZE Your Hams
By Nick Nilsson

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts are one of THE best lower body exercises you can do (not to mention hamstring exercises). This exercise is a variation of the SLDL that turns two barbells into something similar to a SLDL machine. Why would you want to do that? The reason is this - improving your balance can help you focus on FEELING the hamstrings working rather than on balancing and worrying about other parts of the exercise...

Click here to keep reading...

Hand-Over-Hand Chin-Ups

By Nick Nilsson

This one is a GREAT chin-up exercise that will blow your lats and your biceps up like crazy! I won't go into detail about how chin-ups are one of the best back exercises you can do and how bodyweight exercises generally activate more muscle fibers, making them superior to machine exercises (and many free weight exercises)...of course, I guess I just DID go into detail there!...

Click here to keep reading...

"3D Abs!" - Three Unique Abdominal Exercises In The Three Major Planes Of Movement

By Nick Nilsson

Six pack abs, flat stomach, strong core...sound interesting? But what to do you if you've tried every abdominal exercise in the book and you need something NEW? These following 3 ab exercises, using only very simple equipment, will hit your abs in ways they've NEVER felt before...

Click here to keep reading...

Lockout Partial Bench Press For Strengthening Connective Tissue
By Nick Nilsson

There aren't too many trainers I know who don't want a bigger bench press. Let's be honest...it's an ego lift but it's nice to see people's eyes bug out when you tell them how much you can bench press (because you know they always ask!). But what do you do if you get stuck at a certain weight with the bench press and you can't seem to budge it upwards a single pound?...

Click here to keep reading...

The CURE For Stubborn Shoulders...The Two-Phase Barbell Shoulder Press
By Nick Nilsson

If you've ever had a hard time developing your shoulders, this exercise is going to be a lifesaver for you! Personally, shoulders are one of my WORST bodyparts. It's tough to keep them strong...tough to get them bigger...and tough to really feel them working when I'm actually doing shoulder exercises!...

Click here to keep reading...

My VERY Favorite Leg Exercise (I Like It Even More Than Barbell Squats For Working The Thighs HARD!)
By Nick Nilsson

My VERY favorite leg exercise for really hitting the thighs HARD is not a new exercise...it may not even seem to you to be all that great of an exercise at first glance. But when I tell you how to do it FOR REAL, you're going to LOVE the results you get with it...

Click here to keep reading...

 

 

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