I call this one a Vertical Push/Pull In-Set Superset.

(and just FYI, "metcon" is short for "metabolic conditioning," which is a fancy way of saying fat loss and conditioning training...saying "metcon" makes me sound all "professional", though ;)

This is an excellent combination exercise for targeting two antagonistic movement patterns in one set...a vertical pull (in the form of a neutral-grip pull-up) and a vertical push (in the form of a barbell "landmine" style of press).

With this combination, you'll be working primarily your back and your biceps/brachialis during the pull-up and the shoulders and triceps during the press. You'll also find that your rear delts do double-duty with this combo, as they're involved to some degree with BOTH exercises.

Performing a set in this fashion is very effective for fat-loss/metabolic conditioning style of training as it allows you to do a lot of work with a lot of different musclse in a very short period of time. It's not especially targeted for building muscle as the tension in constantly shifting between two completely different sets of muscles.

The setup is simple...you'll need a power rack, two bars and some plates.

Set the rails to just above shoulder height. The non-working side should be a notch or two higher and loaded with enough weight to counterbalance your bodyweight. I've got two 45 lb plates on each bar end.

Load smaller weights on the "working" end. I'm using a couple of 25 lb plates here. You want to use smaller plates so that you can keep the bars closer together while doing the press.

Stand facing away from the bars. This will give you a backwards arc during the press, which is more effective for bringing in the rear delts.

Lower yourself down into the bottom of a neutral grip pull-up. You'll need to bring your knees up so that your feet don't touch the ground.

That being said, if you're not strong enough to do full bodyweight pull-ups like this, you can actually keep your feet in contact with the ground and use your legs to spot yourself. This makes the exercise accessible to just about anybody.

Now pull yourself back up.

One of the other benefits of this setup is that you're gripping on the "fat" ends of the bars where the weight plates go on, giving your grip some excellent work as well.

Pull yourself all the way up to a standing position.

Set your feet down then start the press.

Push up and back, locking it out at the top. As I mentioned, this up and back arc is very effective for the rear delts. If you face in towards the bars, you're going to hit primarily the front delts.

Lower the bars back down to the rails, then repeat the cycle, lowering into the pull-up again.

Keep going in this fashion (I call it an In-Set Superset when you go back and forth between two exercises that share a common position on every rep like this) until you get close to failure on either one of the exercises.

This works a substantial amount of muscle mass in your upper body. The antagonistic patterns allow you to better maintain strength so that you can keep going for longer and do more total work/volume on each set...the antagonistic muscles are resting while the other muscles are working. This prevents lactate build-up from happening too quickly, which would cut your set short.

These factors make it a a very effective combination exercise for metabolic conditioning training, no matter what your training level.

---

Last Call for Anabolic Cooking - Recipes for Muscle Growth

Just wanted to let you know that right now, my friend Dave Ruel (a.k.a. "The Muscle Cook") has his Anabolic Cooking book on sale for HALF price...you can get it for just 9 BUCKS until tonight at midnight.

We both know nutrition is a critical component of success when it comes to building muscle. Without your nutrition dialed in, you won't get the best results possible.

However, I know I have a bad habit of eating the same things over and over again.

It gets boring.

If you're tired of plain chicken breasts and rice and looking to spice things up in your eating, I would definitely recommend grabbing a copy of Anabolic Cooking.

I mean, how does chocolate protein waffles sound to you? Because it sounds pretty good to me...

Check out Anabolic Cooking here - the price is going back up at midnight tonight, so if you're interested, go grab your copy now!