I’ve always been a big believer that it’s not just about using a lot of weight as much as it is in feeling the exercise work to get good results. You know what I’m talkin’ about…making the muscle burn and pump. That’s why I love using different angles, hand placements and positions. I’ll show you two of them I want you to try next workout.
Changing Your Grip
Take a wide grip on a barbell and do a bench press. You’ll feel it in the outer pecs. However, bring the hands closer together and you’ll feel it in the inner chest and triceps.
And change your grip from wide to close when you work back. Same exercise, but you’ll feel it in different parts of the muscles you’re working simply by changing hand grip.
On barbell curls, try a wide-grip and keep your elbows close together towards the center of your upper body. Where do you feel it? Now try the opposite by taking a close-grip (about 6-8 inches apart) but keep your elbows wide and out and away from the center of your upper body. Now where do you feel it? Try the wide- and close-grip experiment on as many exercises you can think of and observe how differently you feel each in the muscle you’re working.