What are alternatives for Hammer strength machine chest press? I don’t have the machine.

Tyler Mathena

Katherine Williford

This session is designed to continue to HONE in on Week 3’s exposure to TEMPO training. 

In the Barbell Bench, DB Bench, Smith OHP, and Hammer Strength Machine all shall be performed with slower pace than the previous two weeks of training. Perform PAUSE reps as well. For bench, for example, lower the bar slowly towards your chest and HOLD at the bottom, then explode up. 

Key points to consider:

1. Grip - don’t just hold the bar or cable, SQUEEZE it. This will help build the mind muscle connections and general FOCUS needed to excel at body transformation. 

2. Breath - Breathing properly and using it to your advantage will protect you from injury as well as help oypu progress and adapt to these movements. 

3. Intention - Don’t just go through the movements, intentionally complete each rep with controlled form and dedicated contractions. KNOW what your doing. 

4. Ask for help! If you don’t know what to do, reach out via IG and I will help clear things up as best I can!

Find a resistance band of medium to light resistance, hold out in front of you, push both arms outwards to generate tension on the band, then SLOWLY bring the band behind you. 

Try shrugging you shoulders UP before rotating the band behind you to help warm up the your trapezius muscles. 

Always keep the motion SLOW and CONTROLLED.

Resistance Band Around the Worlds

Keeping your elbows in line with shoulders, externally rotate your arms from the elbow. 

Go slow and steady, and really try to mobilize your shoulders. Focus on the mind muscle connection. 

Keep your shoulder blades tucked down throughout the movement.

Plate External Roto Warmup

Use 2.5lb plates, or DBs if you have to. 

Using a half raise technique (bent at the elbow), isolate your shoulders and raise the plates up. 

Imagine a string attached to your elbows pulling them up. Visualizing yourself as a puppet here actually helps. 

Keeping as isolated as possible will be more effective.

Lateral Raise Warm Up

This is a tough one to teach via the short demo video and text. Check out my “Insights” page for a full tutorial. 

Quick pointers:

1. Everything should be tight and activated. A good way to do this is by making a glute bridge on the bench, digging your shoulder blades into the bench, then pressing you feet onto the ground, creating a SLIGHT arch in your back. 

2. From here, your legs will be firing. Your upper body will be activated. Now, make sure your shoulder blades are on the bench and your butt is on the bench.  Now you are ready to GRIP the bar. 

3. Slightly wider than shoulder width, actively grip the bar, not letting your wrist tilt back. Keep your arm and wrist IN LINE. 

4. Now, with everything tight, grip fierce, slowly lower the bar down to JUST below your nipples. 

5.  Lastly, breathing! Big breath in, bracing your core before you lower. As you lift up, exhale, using the breath as an extra boost.

Barbell Bench Press

With the cables set at their highest positions, really SQUEEZE the handles on the cable. 

From there, bring your arms, slightly bent towards each other with your palms facing each other. 

Try not to touch your hands together, and maintain tension throughout. Pretend you are HUGGING A TREE.

Standing Decline Cable Fly

Set yourself up on a flat bench, kick back onto the bench in a lying position. 

Do your best to drive your feet into the ends of your shoes, pressing diagonally into the ground. 

Squeeze intensely as the weights are lowered, FOCUSING on stabilizing your shoulders and elbows. 

Breathe in before lowering, breathe out when back at the top. A held breathe DURING the movement will keep your core tight and help stabilize your body. 

SQUEEZING the grips of the dumbbells will help stabilize your arms and protect your wrist. 

Make sure your butt, shoulder blades, and head are all firmly on the bench. 

Lower until you feel a solid stretch in your pecs.

Flat Dumbbell Bench

Using a bench to support your back, set up the bar so it is slightly in front of your face when you lower it. 

Use LIGHTER weight, grip the bar with intention and lower it to where your arms make a 90 degree angle. 

Really focus on squeezing your shoulders as you lower the bar and try to keep your head against the bench.

Smith Seated Overhead Press

Wedge yourself into a machine similar to the one SHOWN. 

Not much can go wrong with these, they are designed to be safe and to provide a good range of motion. 

Make sure to SQUEEZE and STRETCH your chest and front delts.

As reps go down, weight should go up. Leave the ego at the door and work with manageable weights.

Hammer Strength Machine Chest Press

Stand sideways, next to a cable machine with it set about shoulder height. 

Grab the handle with the arm closest to the machine, and push across your body. 

These are called “Mayweathers” because they imitate how Floyd Mayweather fights. Often using his close side shoulder to protect his body, he uses his OTHER arm to punch across his body. So, IMAGINE that you are SLOWLY punching across your body, SQUEEZING as you go.

12 Reps PER side

Mayweathers

Using light plates OR dumbbells, raise the weight up, one hand at a time. 

Make sure to keep your arms slightly bent, and your shoulder blades tucked down throughout. 

Squeeze at the top. Go slow and controlled.

12 per side, 24 total

Alternating Front Raises

Pretending that there are strings attached to your elbows, raise your arms from the elbow, keeping you shoulder blades tucked. 

ISOLATE your medial delts. 

Pretend you are a puppet, the strings are raising your arms to slightly below shoulder height.

DB Full Lateral Raise

Place a bottle or DB on a bench near one end. 

On the other end, sit on the bench, grip it with your hands for stability and let your legs float over the bottle. 

From there, shift your legs left and right OVER the bottle. 

Each time your push your feet out to the right or left, fully exhale to ensure a good contraction. 

Don’t go fast, keep it slow and controlled and aim for GREAT contractions.

Bottle Overs (Core)

Week 3 Day 2:
Chest and Accessories with TEMPO Focus

Great workout! Do you happen to have a PDF you could send me with a weight log to keep track of my weight progression?

Week 3 Day 2: Chest and Accessories with TEMPO Focus

Community

More workouts from Luke Williford