7 More great exercises you've never heard of: supercharge your muscle growth with these brand-new bold movements

Muscle & Fitness, June, 2004 by Jeff O'connell

Now and then something comes along so breathtaking in concept, so daringly engineered, so wildly over the top, that it has never before seen the light of day--or at least never been exposed, in all its glory, by the glare of camera lights. No, not Donald Trump's hair. We refer instead to each of these seven exercises, most of which you won't recognize. Neither did most of us till recently. Some are variations on standards developed by "tinkerers"--you know, the kind of guys who, a month after buying a new car, are hoisting out the block with a cherry-picker and dropping in a tractor engine instead. Other exercises merge multiple existing moves into a single new one. The rest are head-scratching inventions, like The Donald's 'do, that seemingly hail from another planet.

WALKING LUNGE ON TREADMILL

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY

* Targets

Glutes, hams, quads and adductor muscles.

* Contributor

Personal trainer Dave "Scooter" Honig runs Extreme Fitness in Bayside, New York. The firm's clientele includes LL Cool J and a stable of top-ranked prizefighters.

* Genesis

"I started doing these with my fighters because there wasn't enough room to do walking lunges in the gym without having to stop," says Honig. "It was a practical solution to a logistics problem that turned out to be a killer exercise. You're burning calories for cardio and cutting up your legs."

* Execution

Set a treadmill at an incline (speed and incline depend on your ability, but start out conservatively).

Instead of walking or running on it, however, do walking lunges. That is, take a 2-3-foot step forward and bend your lead knee until it forms a 90-degree angle, at which point that thigh should be nearly parallel to the tread. Push off that front foot to rise back up, bringing your trailing leg forward so that your feet are together again. Lunge using the other leg and continue to alternate legs.

* Warnings

Safety could be an issue here, depending on your ability. To perform it, you should be experienced with the lunge and able to control the treadmill properly. Also, try using a weighted vest instead of dumbbells.

If your main goal is building muscle, try doing these for three minutes, rest a minute, then continue. For endurance or fat-burning, go slower for a longer period.

DUMBBELL SQUATUPRIGHT ROW

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY

* Targets

Trapezius, deltoids, glutes, quads, rectus abdominis, spinal erectors and hams.

* Contributor

Istvan "Steve" Javorek is the all-sports conditioning coach at Johnson County Community College (Overland Park, Kansas) and coach emeritus of the Romanian National team.

* Genesis

The legendary strength coach's "dumbbell squat over upright row" was hailed far and wide as an instant classic when it appeared in the first installment of this series. There, the row coincided with the bottom of the hole; here, it comes at the top of the movement, as the rep ends.

"This is great for developing coordination and flexibility, while stimulating several major and stabilizing muscles," says the man nicknamed Dr. Javorkian because of his sadistically hard training programs, which have been used by Olympic medallists in the U.S. and his native Romania.

* Execution

In a wide stance with your toes pointing slightly outward, hold a pair of dumbbells at arms' length in front of your thighs using a pronated grip (palms facing thighs). Bend your knees and hips and descend into a squat as your hands rotate into a neutral grip (palms face each other).

Once your thighs are just below parallel to the floor, reverse the movement. Instead of stopping at the top as you normally would on a squat, perform an upright row by pulling the dumbbells up to your collarbones as you pronate your hands--then push off the balls of your feet as the weights reach their maximum height. (Your feet shouldn't leave the ground, however.)

SUPINE EXERCISE BALL "JOGGING"

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY

* Targets

Transverse abdominis, multifidus (the key stabilizing back muscle), obliques and rectus abdominis.

* Contributor

Michele S. Olson, PhD, FACSM, is a professor of exercise science at Auburn University (Montgomery, Alabama), and a member of the MUSCLE & FITNESS editorial advisory board.

* Genesis

"I don't think I've ever seen this exercise done in other gyms, nor have I found it in any stability-ball exercise books," says Olson. "It's very advanced, and I can do only 4-6 'running' steps before I have to stop and start--which is an exercise in and of itself! Those with great core control and conditioning might be able to do more. This exercise will develop a great core and core synergy in those individuals bold enough to practice it regularly."

* Execution

Lie faceup on the ball so that it supports the middle of your back--the same position you'd assume for a standard crunch--and cross your arms over your chest. Keeping your hips elevated to the same level as your shoulders, "jog" with your feet. (As in "real" jogging, for millisecond gaps both feet will be off the ground--one taking off, the other coming back down.)

GLUTE-HAM RAISE ON PULLDOWN MACHINE