7 Amazing Exercises No One Does (ALL S TIER)

[00:00] Most people do the same few exercises

[00:02] over and over again, and there's nothing

[00:04] wrong with that, but it can make your

[00:05] workouts feel stale. So, today, I'm

[00:08] going to share seven exercises that

[00:10] you've probably never heard of. They

[00:11] aren't gimmicky optimal tricks, either.

[00:13] These are time-t tested movements with

[00:15] scientific support that I personally do

[00:17] every week, and I think you should, too.

[00:19] We'll start with a few that are a bit

[00:20] more common, and then as we go, they'll

[00:22] get more and more obscure. So, I'd say

[00:24] most of you probably have done exercise

[00:25] one at some point, but I'd bet less than

[00:28] 1% of you have ever even seen exercise

[00:30] 7. I think they're all worth doing. Just

[00:32] remember that training hard and training

[00:34] consistently matters more than the exact

[00:36] exercises you pick. Okay, the first

[00:38] exercise is a simple way to improve your

[00:40] shoulder health, grow your forearms,

[00:42] increase core strength, decompress your

[00:44] spine, and improve muscular endurance.

[00:47] It's a dead hang. And if you've never

[00:48] tested your max dead hang time, try it

[00:50] out next time you go to the gym. I

[00:52] actually just tested my own max time

[00:54] after coaching my friend Meged in a Mr.

[00:56] Beast challenge where he'd win $1,000

[00:59] for every second he could deadhang.

[01:02] Every second you can hang, I will give

[01:04] you $8,000.

[01:05] Get out of here.

[01:05] He started with a max dead hang time of

[01:07] just 6 seconds. And we got him up to 60

[01:11] seconds in just 30 days. Meaning he won

[01:14] 60 grand for that challenge. And I just

[01:17] tested it myself and my max time was

[01:22] okay. 2 minutes and 45 seconds. Is that

[01:25] right? Cuz it really didn't feel that

[01:27] long.

[01:27] Now, for some context, this is what a

[01:29] beginner intermediate advanced elite

[01:32] and world class dead hang time looks

[01:34] like. This is the dead hang world

[01:37] record. So, I'm advanced, not quite

[01:39] elite. Dead hangs can open up the

[01:41] shoulder joint, allowing the tendons and

[01:43] muscles of the rotator cuff to move more

[01:45] freely, which can help with shoulder

[01:47] pain. And if your back is feeling stiff

[01:48] from sitting all day, you'll get some

[01:50] spinal decompression, too. The

[01:52] scientific evidence on this is a bit

[01:53] more mixed, but I personally get a lot

[01:55] of relief from it, especially in the

[01:57] days following heavy squats or

[01:58] deadlifts. First, chalk your hands and

[02:01] buy some cheap liquid chalk if your gym

[02:02] doesn't have any. Trust me, this will

[02:04] make a huge difference. Use a bench if

[02:06] you can't reach the bar and grip it just

[02:07] outside shoulder width. This will seem

[02:09] counterintuitive, but try to take a

[02:11] looser grip initially so your forearms

[02:13] don't fatigue too quickly. Once you

[02:15] start to slip, start gripping harder.

[02:17] This is kind of like pacing yourself in

[02:18] a race. Now, if you're doing these for

[02:20] max time, brace your core, but don't

[02:23] flex so hard that you tire yourself out.

[02:25] If you're doing them for spinal

[02:26] decompression, start with a braced core

[02:29] and then gradually let your hips sink

[02:31] down and stretch out. Your legs should

[02:33] hang straight down. And I find keeping

[02:35] my feet together and pointing my toes

[02:37] down helps keep me from swinging. From

[02:39] there, just focus on keeping a

[02:40] consistent breathing rhythm. Don't try

[02:42] to hold your breath. Try it out and see

[02:44] how long you can hang. If you can't

[02:45] deadh hang with body weight yet, use a

[02:47] band for assistance by looping it around

[02:49] the bar and stepping into it. Or you can

[02:51] use an assisted pull-up machine. If you

[02:53] can beat my time of 2 minutes and 45

[02:55] seconds, post it on Instagram and use

[02:57] the hashtag Jeffnipper deadhang. I'll

[03:00] take a look at all of them and I'll

[03:01] repost some of you. Next exercise takes

[03:03] a standard dumbbell curl and makes it

[03:05] just a little more effective. At least

[03:06] in theory. I call it the Zapman hammer

[03:09] curl, named after 1800 strongman George

[03:11] Zapman. I just modified it a bit. Here's

[03:14] the idea. With a regular curl, maybe you

[03:16] can lift 20 lb on the way up, but you

[03:18] could easily control 40 lb on the way

[03:20] back down. That's because you're about

[03:22] 40 or 50% stronger on the negative than

[03:25] you are on the positive. So, with a

[03:27] standard dumbbell curl, you're always

[03:29] overloading the positive more than the

[03:30] negative. The negative never gets fully

[03:33] challenged, but since the negative is

[03:35] crucial for muscle growth, I think it

[03:36] makes a lot of sense to overload it to

[03:38] its full potential. One way to do that

[03:40] is to roll the weight up on your own and

[03:42] then have a partner apply extra

[03:44] resistance on the negative. But that

[03:46] feels awkward. So instead, what you can

[03:48] do is use simple biomechanics to make

[03:50] the weight effectively heavier on the

[03:52] negative. Here's what you do. Curl the

[03:54] weight up with a hammer grip and then

[03:56] lower the weight back down with a palms

[03:58] up supernated grip. By using a hammer

[04:01] grip on the positive, your brachiialis

[04:03] and brachioraiialis can come in and help

[04:05] out. And then when you switch to the

[04:06] supenated grip on the negative, your

[04:08] biceps are forced to take the load. For

[04:10] technique, grip the dumbbell in the

[04:12] middle of the handle. So don't let your

[04:14] thumb rest up against the head of the

[04:15] dumbbell and curl the weight up,

[04:17] stopping just before your arm is

[04:18] vertical. Then rotate your palms up and

[04:21] lower the weight back down under

[04:23] control, sweeping the weight out in a

[04:25] wide arc. Once you reach the bottom,

[04:27] rotate your palms back into the hammer

[04:29] grip. curl the weight back up again and

[04:31] repeat. I usually do these for eight to

[04:33] 10 reps. And while I don't think this

[04:35] technique will put inches on your arms

[04:37] compared to standard dumbbell curls, I

[04:39] do think it's an effective variation

[04:40] that makes a lot of biomechanical sense.

[04:42] Now, if you prefer old school dumbbell

[04:44] curls, they'll still work great. Just

[04:46] slow down the negative to even out the

[04:48] strength curve. Okay, so far we've only

[04:50] hit dead hangs and Zapman hammer curls.

[04:52] The next five are definitely more

[04:54] obscure. Okay, this next exercise I've

[04:56] been doing every week all year, and I

[04:58] absolutely love it for the side delts.

[05:00] It takes a standard dumbbell lateral

[05:02] raise and makes it feel a lot better, at

[05:04] least for me. It's the incline dumbbell

[05:06] Y raise. Now, I've covered the tension

[05:08] profile of the standard dumbbell lateral

[05:10] raise before, but here's a quick

[05:11] refresher. Because gravity pulls

[05:13] straight down, there's zero tension on

[05:15] your delts at the bottom, and peak

[05:17] tension doesn't hit until the very top.

[05:20] Now, that's not necessarily a problem.

[05:22] In fact, new research shows that

[05:24] dumbbell laterals can still grow your

[05:26] side delts just fine as long as you

[05:28] train them hard. But I still don't like

[05:30] having such a lopsided tension profile.

[05:32] I find it harder to connect with my side

[05:34] delts when I'm only getting enough

[05:35] tension in such a small aspect of the

[05:37] range of motion. So that's where the

[05:39] incline dumbbell yra comes in. Set up a

[05:41] bench at a roughly 20 to 30° incline. It

[05:44] should feel like you're leaning pretty

[05:45] far back. Brace your upper back against

[05:47] the bench and lift your chest up. With

[05:49] the dumbbells at your sides, lift them

[05:51] up and out in a Y. Think about squeezing

[05:54] your side delt fibers together to move

[05:56] the weight up and then feel them stretch

[05:58] apart on the way down. Once you get to

[06:00] the point where the dumbbells are back

[06:02] at your sides, start your next rep. So,

[06:04] don't let the dumbbells swing all the

[06:06] way back until they're hanging

[06:07] vertically because again, you'll lose

[06:09] that tension. So, stop once you get to

[06:11] your sides, just like you would when

[06:12] standing. And by lifting the dumbbells

[06:14] up and out in a Y, you'll hit the fibers

[06:17] in between the front and side heads,

[06:19] which adds a lot of shape to your

[06:21] shoulders, especially from the front.

[06:23] And while lifting straight out to the

[06:24] side is generally safe, a lot of people

[06:26] do find that their shoulders feel more

[06:28] comfortable when they lift in the

[06:29] scapular plane about 30° to the front.

[06:32] So, give them a shot the next time you

[06:33] hit shoulders. I think you'll love the

[06:35] feel of them. Okay, now we're getting a

[06:36] little bit more obscure. So, I don't

[06:38] think I've seen many people do this one

[06:39] outside of my audience. It's the

[06:41] sideways facing one arm rear delt fly on

[06:44] the PC deck machine. First, I should

[06:46] explain why it is that I like them so

[06:47] much. It's really because this is the

[06:50] only way to get a full range of motion

[06:52] for your rear delts on this machine.

[06:54] When you do them the traditional way,

[06:56] what you're really doing are half reps

[06:58] in a shortened position. The muscle

[06:59] never gets lengthened at all. It'd be

[07:01] like doing bicep curls in the top half

[07:03] only. Nobody would consider that

[07:05] optimal. Yet, that's exactly how most

[07:07] people treat the reverse pec deck. The

[07:08] rear delts don't get anywhere close to a

[07:10] stretch position until you reach across

[07:12] your body. So that's why I do them this

[07:14] way. The technique is pretty simple,

[07:16] too. Instead of sitting down and facing

[07:18] the pad as normal, you turn sideways and

[07:20] sweep your arm out across your body. A

[07:22] cue I picked up from Dr. Mike is to

[07:24] think about there being a big pile of

[07:25] money on the ground. And however much

[07:27] area you can cover is how much money you

[07:29] get to keep. This will help you sweep

[07:31] the weight out with your rear delts

[07:33] rather than yanking the weight back with

[07:35] your back and biceps. Obviously, you

[07:36] don't need to go all the way around.

[07:38] Now, if you don't have a pec deck

[07:39] machine, you can still get the job done

[07:41] with cables. Just make sure that you

[07:42] still reach your arms across your body

[07:44] for the full rear delt stretch. And if

[07:46] you only have dumbbells, all you need to

[07:48] do is lie down on a bench, stretch the

[07:50] dumbbell across your body, and lift it

[07:52] back up. It's not that I think this

[07:53] super deep stretch is going to suddenly

[07:54] double your gains, but I do think that

[07:56] if you're completely missing the

[07:58] stretched aspect on all your rear delt

[08:00] work, you probably are leaving some

[08:01] gains on the table. So, try these out.

[08:03] Let me know what you think. All right,

[08:05] let's go even deeper. The next few

[08:06] exercises on here do get a little wild,

[08:08] but like I said, I do all seven of them,

[08:10] and I think they're all super

[08:12] underrated. Okay, next one is a pretty

[08:14] uncommon ab exercise that I've been

[08:16] doing every week on my cut so far.

[08:18] Dragon flags. It is a classic, though,

[08:20] and it was actually Bruce Lee's go-to

[08:22] move for building up his incredible core

[08:24] strength. They'll hit your lower abs the

[08:26] hardest since you're lifting your legs

[08:27] up, but your entire six-pack has to

[08:30] contract isometrically to keep your

[08:32] spine extended. Actually, the first time

[08:34] I did these, my upper abs were so sore,

[08:37] I was still sore, I think five or 6 days

[08:40] after I hit them, so don't say I didn't

[08:42] warn you. On top of that, your obliques

[08:44] come in for stability, and your serrus

[08:46] muscles anchor your back and shoulders

[08:48] in place. You also get some lat

[08:49] activation here, and man, it just lights

[08:52] your entire core up. For the technique,

[08:54] grab onto the top of a bench and with

[08:56] straight hips and straight knees, lift

[08:58] your entire body, including your glutes,

[09:01] up off the bench until your legs are at

[09:03] a roughly 60 to 80° angle. Then, while

[09:07] keeping your hips straight, lower your

[09:09] legs back down under control. And repeat

[09:12] that for 4 to eight reps or however many

[09:14] you can get. Now, fair warning, this one

[09:18] is a lot harder than it looks. So, if

[09:20] you're new to it, I'd start with lying

[09:22] leg raises. Just lie flat on your back

[09:24] and lift your legs up while bracing your

[09:26] core. Once you can do that for eight to

[09:28] 10 reps, move on to a bent knee dragon

[09:31] flag. This is quite a lot easier than

[09:34] the full dragon flag. Bending your knees

[09:36] shortens the lever arm, which makes it a

[09:37] lot easier on your abs. Once you hit

[09:39] eight to 10 reps of those, you should be

[09:41] ready to ease into full-blown dragon

[09:43] flags. I've been doing these more than

[09:45] hanging leg raises lately because with

[09:47] hanging leg raises, you don't have

[09:49] anything to stabilize your torso, and so

[09:51] it's tricky to avoid swinging back and

[09:53] forth. That instability then limits the

[09:56] tension that you can direct into your

[09:57] abs. A Roman chair fixes most of this,

[10:00] but your back, arms, and shoulders still

[10:01] have to hold your body weight up. A

[10:03] dragon flag solves those issues. But

[10:05] honestly, when it comes to abs, the most

[10:07] important thing is your diet. You'll

[10:09] need to get down to around 10 to 12%

[10:10] body fat as a male and around 20% as a

[10:13] female. So, before we get to exercise

[10:14] six and seven, let me quickly show you

[10:16] how to get from 20% to 10% like I did

[10:19] this year using my smart nutrition app,

[10:21] MacroFactor. All you need to do is

[10:23] download a free trial on the App Store

[10:25] or Google Play, and then the app will

[10:26] take you through a quick series of

[10:28] questions to learn about you, your

[10:30] goals, and your nutritional preferences.

[10:32] Then, our metabolic rate equations will

[10:34] use that info from your questionnaire to

[10:36] get a picture of your specific

[10:38] metabolism right away and set up a

[10:40] nutrition plan specifically for you.

[10:42] From there, all you need to do is log

[10:44] your weight and track what you eat. And

[10:46] then each week going forward, the app

[10:47] will do a full check-in with you just

[10:49] like a coach would. So, it'll update

[10:51] your nutrition based on any changes to

[10:53] your metabolism every week. Then, it'll

[10:55] tell you exactly how much weight you've

[10:57] lost and how much weight you have left

[10:58] to lose to get to your goal body fat.

[11:00] I've been using the app to run my own

[11:01] cut all year, and if you're ready to

[11:02] start yourself, I'll put a link to a

[11:04] free trial in the description box below,

[11:05] or you can scan this QR code on screen.

[11:08] Just make sure you use code Jeff when

[11:09] you download, and that'll get you 2

[11:10] weeks for free. Okay, this next one is

[11:12] one of the most underrated backbuilders

[11:14] out there and most people have probably

[11:16] never heard of it. It's called the

[11:17] Keelso shrug and it's amazing for back

[11:20] thickness because it completely isolates

[11:22] your mid traps and romboids without

[11:24] fatiguing your lower back or involving

[11:26] your biceps. Now, despite the name, it

[11:29] really is more like a row than a shrug.

[11:31] With a standard row, you bend your

[11:33] elbows and squeeze your back together at

[11:35] the same time. But with the keelso

[11:37] shrug, your elbows stay locked and you

[11:40] completely isolate the back squeeze.

[11:42] That's what makes it so effective. When

[11:43] you think about it, during a row, all of

[11:46] this motion at your arms isn't doing

[11:48] anything for your back. This part is all

[11:50] biceps. Research shows that while rows

[11:52] do grow your biceps to some extent,

[11:55] curls grow them about twice as well. And

[11:57] since your biceps are obviously much

[11:59] smaller than your back, they will

[12:01] eventually limit the amount of tension

[12:03] that your back gets on a row. That's why

[12:05] after you hit failure on a normal row,

[12:07] you could probably crank out another

[12:09] four or five keels shrugs. That should

[12:11] tell you that your biceps may have hit

[12:13] failure, your rear delts may have hit

[12:14] failure, but your midback probably

[12:17] didn't. So, for the kelso technique,

[12:19] load up a chest supported T- bar row

[12:21] machine. Brace your chest against the

[12:23] pad and take a fairly wide grip around

[12:25] 1.5 times shoulder width. Unrackck the

[12:27] weight and with completely locked arms,

[12:30] squeeze your shoulder blades together as

[12:32] hard as you can. Pause for about 1

[12:34] second at the top and then let your

[12:36] shoulder blades peel apart on the

[12:38] negative. If you're doing it right, the

[12:40] weight should only move about four or

[12:42] five inches. This may not feel like

[12:44] enough at first, but that's because

[12:45] you're used to doing rows where most of

[12:47] the range of motion is coming from the

[12:49] biceps and the lats, but when you

[12:52] actually isolate the midback, this is

[12:54] what the full range of motion looks

[12:55] like. Now, of course, I still think rows

[12:57] are a fantastic overall back developer,

[13:00] but if I'm trying to isolate midback

[13:02] thickness, specifically, Kelso shrugs

[13:05] are one of my main go-tos. And by the

[13:07] way, if you don't have a T- bar row

[13:08] machine, you can do the same basic thing

[13:10] by bracing against an incline bench and

[13:12] using dumbbells. All right, let's finish

[13:14] with the least known exercise on my

[13:15] list. This is the seated cable deadlift.

[13:18] I think this is an awesome glute and

[13:19] hamstring exercise, and I have no idea

[13:21] why more people don't do it. I know it

[13:23] looks gimmicky, but hear me out.

[13:25] Obviously, barbell deadlifts are great

[13:27] for building total body strength, and I

[13:29] personally do barbell Romanian deadlifts

[13:31] every single week. But sometimes you

[13:32] need an exercise that activates your

[13:34] glutes and hams without the same fatigue

[13:36] demand that comes with a heavy barbell

[13:38] lift. That's where the seated cable

[13:40] deadlift comes in. Because your hips are

[13:42] fixed with your glutes planted on the

[13:44] bench, you're a lot more stable and you

[13:46] won't fry your back, core, and quads

[13:48] nearly as much. And if you do them

[13:50] right, you'll get a glute pump like

[13:52] you've never felt before. Okay, for

[13:54] technique on these, take a grip just

[13:56] outside shoulder width and plant your

[13:58] feet on the platform with your toes

[14:00] pointed slightly out to engage the

[14:01] glutes while keeping a tall chest. Squat

[14:04] the weight up and then extend your hips

[14:06] to a full body lockout position. This is

[14:08] where your glutes should stay planted

[14:10] throughout the set. From there, begin

[14:12] your first rep by unlocking your hips

[14:14] and knees, lowering the bar while

[14:16] keeping it in as tight to your body as

[14:17] feels comfortable. You can actually go

[14:19] quite a bit lower here, though, since

[14:20] there aren't any plates to limit your

[14:22] range of motion. So go as low as you can

[14:24] without allowing your lower back to

[14:25] round. For me, that's right around my

[14:27] ankles. From there, squeeze your glutes

[14:30] hard to extend your hips. Keep your

[14:32] shoulders back and your chest up as you

[14:34] complete the lockout. Remember, this

[14:36] isn't a row. It's a deadlift, so you

[14:38] shouldn't be yanking with your arms. Use

[14:40] your glutes to move the weight. I find a

[14:42] big glute squeeze at the very top of

[14:43] each rep can help you feel your glutes

[14:45] working better. You could also do these

[14:46] as Romanian deadlifts by keeping a

[14:48] straighter knee for more hamstrings

[14:50] emphasis. Doing them single leg works

[14:52] great, too, because you don't need to

[14:53] worry about keeping your balance like

[14:54] you do with free weights. This way, if

[14:56] you have any left to right imbalances,

[14:58] you can even things out by starting with

[15:00] your weaker side, going two or close to

[15:02] failure, and then matching the reps with

[15:04] a stronger side after. Now, I don't

[15:06] think these are better than barbell

[15:08] deadlifts, but I do think they're easier

[15:10] to recover from. And honestly, because

[15:13] I'm more stable here, I'm able to

[15:14] connect with my glutes and hamstrings a

[15:16] lot better. So, try them out for

[15:18] yourself and let me know what you think.

[15:19] And if you haven't already, download a

[15:21] free trial of MacroFactor. It's the

[15:23] smart nutrition app that I've developed

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[15:52] take your nutrition to the next level,

[15:53] download the app. Like I said, it's a

[15:55] free trial. I'll put a link to that in

[15:56] the description box down below. And

[15:58] that's it for this one, guys. Thanks so

[15:59] much for watching. Don't forget to leave

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