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How to keep your workouts honest: Step Up

This week, I’m showing you how to do an honest kneeling step up using my tried-and-true Dead Stop Method.

Editor's Note: In July, Philly.com launched its first contest to find Philly's Next Top Trainer. Over 1,000 readers voted and local trainer Nick Deacon's video on how to keep your push ups honest took the top honor. At the beginning of the month, we launched the first video of Nick's "Honesty Workout Series," which will run every wednesday for the next two weeks.

The Dead Stop Method is a style of performing the tried-and-true exercises that build strength, burn fat, and develop your body.

Here's how it works:

The most important aspects of the Dead Stop Method are the beginning and end of each movement.

The beginning of a Dead Stop exercise must be stable. Make sure the weight (or your body) is supported by the floor or anything other than the target muscles. You must be able to put the weight down or "rest" between each rep.

The end of every rep has a similarly distinct endpoint. You must be able to feel the target muscles contracting hard until they reach a dead-end. Once they reach this point, they can go no further. You've found a new point of stability and may now return to the start.

I use this solution with my trainees to make sure they get the most out every one of their reps. This helps them train effectively, while also developing the foundations needed for more complex moves in the future.

By choosing specific exercises that use a Dead Stop at both the beginning and the end of the movement, we fix all of the most common exercise problems:

  1. You'll be more likely to feel the right muscles working by starting in a good position on every rep.

  2. The pause between reps will prevent bouncing. It also forces you to slow down enough to make sure you're being honest with every rep, even when the set gets hard.

  3. You'll know when the weight is too heavy because you won't have momentum to help you complete the exercise.

Once you fix these problems, you can be confident you're performing all of your reps properly.

At the beginning of the month, I showed you how to do an honest chest press and dumbbell row using the Dead Stop Method. This week, I'm showing you an honest kneeling step up. Check back every Wednesday as I unveil the remaining two exercises: deadlift and chin up.

By using the Dead Stop Method, you can be confident that you're getting the most out of your efforts in the gym.

Time to make 2017 your year.

Nick Deacon is an ACSM certified personal trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist who operates out of 12th Street Gym and Drexel Recreation Center. Nick offers personal training services, as well as nutrition and distance counseling. To learn more about Nick, visit his personal website at nickdeaconfitness.com.

Read more Sports Doc for Sports Medicine and Fitness.