So...if there was a way to be 10% stronger
in an exercise INSTANTLY....would you use it?

Of course you would! You'd be insane NOT to...

And there IS...

The technique is called Contralateral Antagonistic Muscle
Activation.

The name is long and sounds a bit technical, however,
once you understand it, it's really pretty simple.

The key concept is this...by activating the antagonistic
muscle on the opposite side of the body as the muscle
being worked, you can see an INSTANT 10% increase in
strength in the working target muscle.

The physiological mechanism (if you're interested) is that
approximately 10% of the neural fibers that cross over at
the medulla oblongata (the connection between the two
halves of your brain) reciprocally innervate agonist and
contralateral antagonist muscles.

In English, that means that some of the nerves that
activate muscle fibers in your left tricep also activate
some fibers in your right bicep, and vice versa.

The practical upshot of this is that when you work your
right bicep and your left tricep simultaneously, both will
see about a 10% instant increase in strength due to
increased nervous system activation and fiber recruitment.

Sound interesting?

I thought so...

The trick is finding exercises that can be done
simultaneously in an effective manner to take advantage
of this activation.

And that's where THIS exercise comes into play...

You're going to be performing a standard One Arm
Dumbbell Row exercise...and at the same time, your
support arm is going to be pushing a heavy high-pulley
load down onto the bench.

Now, in the original theory behind this contralateral technique,
it was advised to use the same tempo for both exercises. In
this case, however, you're just going to be doing an
isometric contraction for chest activation. I found it to be
just as effective in my testing of the exercise.

I HAVE used a simultaneous push/pull for this style of
training and, while VERY effective, I actually found I was
limited in the amount of weight I could use by the torque
my core was capable of withstanding during the paired
exercises.

I use it as a core exercise regularly but you just plain can't
use as much weight due to that issue.

To perform this exercise, you'll need a bench, a dumbbell
and a high pulley with a single handle. If you don't have a
pulley, you can also use a thick band (or several thinner
bands, if that's what you've got). The concept is the same.

Set the bench so that the end is right underneath the high
pulley. Set a moderately heavy weight on the pulley and
set a dumbbell you could get about 10 to 12 reps with for
the row beside the bench.

Get your knee in position on the bench then grab the
cable handle with both hands.



Use a powerful downward push with your entire upper
body to push the handle down towards the bench. How
hard you have to push will depend on how much weight
you have on the pulley.



Set your fist on the bench then quickly reach down and
grab the dumbbell. Once you pick up the dumbbell, that
will counterbalance the pull of the pulley weight and you'll
be locked in. Your chest will be in a steady isometric
contraction.

Get into position for the dumbbell row. You should have
your plant leg out to the side at an angle, knee bent, with
an arch in your lower back for support. Look slightly
forward to keep a curvature in your neck..this will help you
maintain the arch in your lower back.



Now simply row up. Your plant arm/cable arm DOES
NOT MOVE. It stays on the bench, right where it is.



As you row up, try to consciously push down into the
bench with your support arm to maximize pec contraction.
You will also get MASSIVE cross-tension in through your
core while performing this technique, so be sure to keep
your core tight.

Get as many reps as you can (it should be more the 10 to 12
you would normally get!) then set the dumbbell down. Grip
the cable handle with both hands and bring it back up, setting
the stack down (don't let the handle just fly up and the stack
crash down).

Then repeat on the other side with the exact same execution.





This technique is demanding but VERY effective. I
immediately felt stronger in the exercise the first time
I used it.

Once you've tried it out for moderate to higher reps, try
it with heavy weight and low reps as well (if you feel
comfortable doing so).

In the next set, I'm using a 135 lb dumbbell (125lbs +
10 lbs of Plate Mates magnetic plates attached) and
the entire weight stack of my cable machine.

The heavier weight requires a BIG push to get the cable
handle down into position.





That's the exercise!

It's a very simple setup and the concept is extremely effective.

Give this one a try next time you hit your back. You'll feel
a little stronger from the very first rep you do and bottom
line...more strength and more weight means more MASS
(plus the core work is a nice bonus on the side!).

I've posted the video demo of this exercise technique in
action on my YouTube channel here.




Now, if you want wider lats that flare like bat wings...tree-trunk
strength and thickness...and an upper back and traps that
COMMAND attention and respect, you need to check out
my book "The Best Back Exercises You've Never Heard Of".



In it, you'll get 145 of the most off-the-charts effective exercises
you've NEVER seen before to take your back to a whole new
level...even if NOTHING else has worked for you! (especially
if nothing else has worked for you!)

Learn more and grab your 4 free sample exercises here....