The Ultimate Power Rack Jammer Arm Guide

Sam’s Fitness has sold the Powertec Leverage Gyms in Australia for over 15 years. Over that time we have seen just how many quality exercises and variations can be gained from a pair of arms with weight on them.

Below is just a sample of what you can do with Jammer Arms. However, once you get them and start playing around, you find different exercises and variations that you can add to your repertoire. I guess that is the often overlooked benefit of this add-on – the enjoyment you will get from creating your own movements.

This is a great exercise for developing the upper chest and front deltoid. I would recommend performing this variation after you perform a heavy barbell bench press, when your stabilizer muscles are fried but you still want to get the chest pump.

How to:

– If it is your first exercise of the day, do not forget to properly warm up your muscles!

– Set the bench angle to 35-45 degrees.

– Position the bench so that your wrists would be around your nipple line at the bottom of the movement.

– Remember that jammer arms move in an arc-like path.

– Choose a lighter weight for the first set.

– Feel free to move the bench around or change the height of the arms until you find a comfortable position.

– Before lifting, squeeze the handle as hard as you can, tense your core, and press!

– Slowly lock out your elbows at the top, some bodybuilders might stop just before locking out to keep the tension on the muscle.

– Squeeze your chest for a second at the top and slowly bring the handles down.

– For this exercise, I would recommend performing 8-12 reps

Jammer arm bench press would substitute your dumbbell press. It would allow you to bring the handles deeper than your regular free weight barbell – normally the barbell hitting your chest will restrict your range of motion. Like dumbbells, the jammer arms will clear your chest, allowing you to get a great stretch and activate more muscle fibers.

The Jammer Arms will also give you more control due to the fixed path.

There are a few flat bench press variations you could perform.

– Wide grip – you would grab the handles at the ends. This would put more stress on your chest.

– Regular grip– a balance between chest and triceps development. Most recommended grip.

– Neutral/Narrow grip – Ideal for those who either are looking for ways to boost their triceps development or to preserve their shoulders.

– Feet on the bench – During a free weight bench press, I would never recommend putting your feet on the bench. Mostly because you need to be as stable as possible to be able to press the weight safely. However, with the jammer arms, you would already have the necessary stability and would not have to worry about sliding off the bench. This will also place more emphasis on your chest.

How to:

– If it is your first exercise of the day, take your time to properly warm-up. Jammer arms allow you to bring the weight lower compared to your regular barbell bench press. This will put tremendous stress on your pecs and shoulders. If you are not properly warmed up, you are putting yourself in a position where you could get injured.

Pec tears are no joke – if you are new to going deep then you will not need a lot of weight to achieve the desired result, which is utilizing new muscle fibers.

– Choose the bench press variation you would like to perform and set up the bench in a position where the grips would be at your nipple line.

– Clench your shoulders together and push them down. This will allow you to have more control of the weight.

– Breathe in, tense your core, and press.

– Slowly lock your elbows out at the top of the movement and squeeze your chest for a fraction of a second.

– Slowly bring the weight down and repeat!

– I would recommend performing 6-8 reps for this exercise for optimal results.

Decline bench press is a great lower chest shaping exercise. For the best results, you should perform it at the end of your workouts.

How to:

– Set up the bench so that the grips would be at your nipple line.

– Your wrist and elbow should be in the same line as the grips

– Push the weight upwards and slowly lock out your elbows.

– Give your pecs a small squeeze and slowly return to the starting position.

– Do not forget to keep your core tensed throughout the whole movement.

– For the best results I would recommend performing 8-12 reps on this exercise.

Not everyone has the necessary mobility to perform this exercise with a free weight barbell. Jammer Arms will allow you to protect your joints as well as lower back by limiting how far you can bring your arms back.

How to:

– Bring the back-rest pad up to around 70-80 degree angle.

– Set up the bench so that the grips would be slightly in front of your face.

– The jammer arm grips should be slightly below your ears (that is as far as we are going to bring the arms down).

– Grip Width – when bringing the weighs down, your forearm and elbow should form a 90-degree angle.

– Lower the weight to around the nipple of your ear and press up.

– Slowly lock your elbows out and return to the starting position.

– For this exercise, I would recommend performing 8-12 reps.

This is a great exercise variation for those who want to blast their shoulders and triceps at the same time! Also, shoulder impingements are high on the list of common injuries from training, and the neutral grip is often far more agreeable for many wounded warriors.

How to:

– You might have to move the bench slightly forward so that your grip would be in the same line as your shoulders.

– Don’t go too low for this exercise as it might place too much stress on your shoulder joint.

– Press up and slowly lock your elbows out at the top.

– Squeeze the muscle from a fraction of the second and return to the starting position.

– For the best results perform 8-12 reps.

This is one of the most beneficial and the most taxing shoulder exercises when performed with a free weight barbell. It also activates a lot of other ancillary muscles throughout the body when performed standing versus seated.

By doing the exercise Lever Arms it will allow you to better isolate the muscles in the shoulders. You still have to brace your core, so the rest of your body is not neglected.

How to:

– Grip – your elbow and forearm should form a 90-degree angle when lowering the grips.

– Start with your chin, wrist, and elbow being in the same line.

– Press upwards and slowly lock out your elbows at the top

– Bring the grips back to around your ear level.

– This is a standing exercise, so it is important to remember to brace your core while training.

– Perform 6-8 reps with moderate weight.

Front squats are a phenomenal exercise for quad, glute, and core development. Although they are a squat variation, there is a considerable difference in how the muscles are activated in comparison to a back squat.

However, performing a front squat with a barbell can be difficult and often turns people off from giving this valuable exercise a crack. Using the Jammer Arms makes performing this exercise much easier.

It will be slightly more difficult to perform this variation since you are going to be starting at the bottom of the movement, rather than racking the barbell off when you are standing. This will mean that you will use less weight.

This is not a massive downside. Save your max. weight lifts for back squats. Use the Jammer front squat as an accessory exercise to build up your back squat.

How to:

– Set the jammer arms at the correct height.

– You can use both neutral and pronated grips for this exercise- whatever you find more comfortable.

– Lift the weights up and prepare for your first rep.

– Always keep your back straight.

– Breathe in, brace your core and keep it tensed during the whole duration of the movement.

– Slowly squat down, keep the tension in your core and quads.

– If you want to add some additional glute development and build strength in the deep knee flexion, squat below parallel.

– If you want more quad development, stop just before parallel and stand back up.

– For optimal results perform 8-12 reps for this exercise.

It is quite difficult to perform this squat variation since you would be wasting a lot of your precious energy just trying to stabilize the weight.

Performing barbell front squats is tricky enough, so doing a lunge on one leg is quite an advanced technique.

By eliminating the need to stabilize the barbell, Jammer Arm Front Squat Lunges will enable you to focus your efforts on isolating your quads and core. If you want to kick the intensity up a notch, you could perform a front squat into front squat lunges superset for the ultimate quad and core burn.

How to:

– Choose a neutral or pronated grip for this exercise.

– Place one leg in front of you and the other behind you.

– Keep your back straight and do not forget to tense your core!

– There is no need to go all the way down for this exercise, go as low as your mobility and comfort allow.

– Squat back up, pause for a second to reset and repeat!

– Perform 8-12 repetitions for this exercise.

If you want to add some thickness to your back, bent over rows are a great place to start. However, before you add it to your workout you should know that it is quite heavy on your lower back, so please proceed with caution.

Besides, you will get more benefits from this exercise if you focus on squeezing and isolating the muscle. You can lift a lot of weight with these sorts of back exercises, but if you are not concentrating you will use other muscles that will take the focus from the back.

How to:

– Bring the jammer arms to the 3rd or 4th lowest position on your rack.

– Grip the bars slightly wider than your shoulders.

– Slightly bend your knees and do your best to keep your back straight.

– Tense your core and lift the weight up.

– For the maximum muscle contraction your elbow should rise slightly higher than your back.

– This is a mass exercise, and I would recommend performing 6-8 repetitions.

Compared to bent-over rows, the single-arm variant gives you more control of the movement, as well as some extra range of motion. It also allows you to better isolate the muscle and get rid of that swinging motion which may occur when you are lifting heavy.

This variation will also be less taxing on your lower back as you will have your free hand to support yourself.

How to:

– Place your bench in front of you so that you could stabilize yourself.

– The jammer arm position should be around 3 holes above the ground.

– Choose a lighter weight for the first set so get the blood flowing into the muscle.

– You can choose neutral or pronated grip for this exercise.

– Row the arm as high as you can without your upper body tilting.

– Squeeze your lat at the top for best results.

– You can row a fair bit of weight during this exercise, I would recommend doing 6-8 reps. Do not let your ego get in the way of the mind-muscle connection.

If you want to build bigger traps and strengthen your shoulders, you should definitely reserve a sport for shrugs in your training program.

The problem with this exercise is that most trainees tend to overload the barbell or grab dumbbells which are way too heavy and botch this beneficial exercise up. You will almost always see this in a gym fail compilation – a skinny dude with bending barbell vigorously moving his neck, but not the barbell!

How to:

– Start off with a lower weight for this exercise. This will help you to determine the correct range of motion.

– Your wrists and shoulders should be in the same line.

– Shrug your shoulders and squeeze at the top for a second.

– They should be moving in a straight line.

– Slowly return to the starting position.

– Ideal rep range – 8-12 reps.

This upright row variation is far less taxing on your shoulders compared to your standard barbell upright rows.

This variation will help you to develop stronger and bigger shoulders and traps.

How to:

– Choose a lower weight for this exercise.

– Your grip width should be very similar to your bench press grip.

– Tense your core and pull the grip up to your rib cage.

– If you can stop for a second and squeeze the muscle for better contraction.

– Slowly return to the starting position.

– This exercise is quite taxing on your energy tank, I would recommend performing 6-8 reps.

This exercise will help you to not only develop your rear delts but also your trapezius muscle group.

How to:

– Choose a lighter weight for the first couple of sets to properly warm your muscles up.

– Keep the handles behind your back.

– Use pronated grip for this exercise.

– Shrug your shoulders up and pause for a second to properly contract them.

– Slowly lower the weight and repeat!

– Rep range: 6-8 reps.

Deadlifts using Jammer Arms might sound like a madman’s exercise, but it is quite beneficial for a few reasons.

Firstly, you can focus on the muscle itself by executing the perfect form, since you do not have to stabilize the weight.

Secondly, you can use a neutral grip for this exercise which would place the weight to your sides – a perfect replacement for the hex trap bar deadlifts!

There will time during your training cycle where you feel a bit rundown or sore. This is your body telling you that it needs a break. Trying to break pbs on compound lifts can be counterproductive in these situations. This sort of variation will work the muscles while giving the body time to recover.

How to:

– Choose which variation you would like to perform – neutral grip/hex trap bar deadlifts or your conventional deadlifts.

– For conventional deadlifts stand in front of the handles, for the neutral grip take a small step forward so that the handles would be by your sides.

– Keep your back straight, tense your core, and upwards you go!

– Stop for the moment at the top to contract the muscle and reset.

– The rep range may vary from 6 repetitions all the way to 12 – it depends on your end goal.

Lunges is one of the best quad and glute blasting exercises you could do to build your legs and booty.

These weighted lunges are slightly different to the ones discussed previously as the weight now sits much lower. It takes a bit of pressure off your core and gives you an opportunity to focus on building your lower body.

Also, let us not forget that you will be able to stabilize the weight much easier than performing the exercise with dumbbells.

How to:

– Choose the most comfortable grip – neutral or pronated.

– Put one leg in front of you and the other behind you.

– Slowly squat down.

– How low you will go will depend on your mobility and comfort. If you feel uncomfortable going past a certain point, then stop just before.

– Remember to breathe and keep your core tensed.

– Rep range: 8-12.

No leg workout is complete without filling your calves with blood!

For this exercise you will need some sort of platform so you could get the full stretch.

Weight plates, wooden strip or a dedicated calf block would do wonders.

How to:

– Place the calf block in the correct position (you body should be completely straight).

– Make sure that the block is tall enough to give you enough room for the full stretch.

– Stand with your footpads on the block.

– Slowly lower yourself and then raise yourself.

– Ideally you would raise yourself up until your calves are either cramping or the mobility no longer allows you to go higher.

– Squeeze your calves at the top. Do not just rock up and down.

– There is no rep range for training calves, if you feel like you can do a 100 do a 100! Have a rest and do a hundred more.

A piece of gym equipment is not considered useful unless it allows you to do some sort of bicep curl variation.

The drag curls will do a phenomenal job isolating your biceps. It is an old school exercise that is often overlooked or not even on the radar. There is no rocking back and forth or using the momentum to complete the rep. You must rely on your biceps strength to get the job done.

By using the Jammer Arms you focusing even more on the biceps.

How to:

– You can use either supinated or pronated grip for this exercise.

– I would recommend using a lighter weight for the first few sets, so you could get the hang of this exercise. Plus with correct form, you will find that you do not need a lot of weight to light up your biceps.

– Keep the grips close to your body throughout the whole movement.

– You will be dragging them upwards – hence the name drag curls.

– Lift the handles up to around your nipple line or as much as your mobility allows.

– Squeeze your biceps at the top.

– Focus on the descend of the movement.

– Rep range: 8-12

This exercise is all about squeeze and feel. Focusing on lifting more and more weight greatly reduces its effectiveness. This exercise is great to start or finish an arm workout.

Regardless of whether you are a trainer reliving his second youth or an aspiring bodybuilder, you could find great use from the lever machine training:

– Protect your joints and stabilizer muscles.

It takes time for you to build up the necessary strength to perform any exercise with a correct form whenever you are trying out something new.

Your stabilizer muscles, especially the ones located in your shoulder need time to adjust to this change.

By training with a machine that operates in a fixed path, you are not only giving them a much-needed break but also are isolating the specific muscle group so much better.

– Rehab/Prehab

The word which sends shivers down your spine!

Injuries do happen and rather than dwelling on them we can find a way to not only fast-forward the healing process but also future-proof our joints and muscles.

The jammer arms are operating in a fixed path, which means that there is no unexpected deviation in the movement pattern which could aggravate the injury.

– Overload your muscles without the need of a Spotter

Regardless of how many years or how hard you are training, eventually you will hit a wall. After all, no one is exempt from plateaus, but there are ways to break through them.

The lever arms are not joined together and operate in a fixed path, which means that you can load them up and not have to worry about them crushing you in case you run out of steam.