To Your Health
August, 2007 (Vol. 01, Issue 08) |
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A Total-Body Workout In 5 Easy Steps
Part 2: The Arms
By Chelsea Cooper
All photographs taken at Club No Mercy Intensity Performance Training Studio (www.clubnomercy.com) in Huntington Beach, California.
Last month, certified personal trainer and fitness expert Chelsea Cooper guided you through a series of chest exercises. In this second installment of a five-part exercise series covering each of the major muscle zones, learn the best exercises to strengthen and tone your arms.
Biceps and triceps are probably among the most overlooked muscles when it comes to working out. Many people, especially women, want firm and toned arms, but they tend to skip the biceps and triceps, either because they don't know what to do, or they don't think it will help them achieve their goals. But if you think about it, your biceps and triceps muscles make up half of your arm, front and back; so if the goal is sleeker, stronger, sexier-looking arms, these arm exercises are a must:
Keep hips level.
BICEPS DUMBBELL CURL
Getting Started
1 Stand with your feet pointed straight ahead and your knees slightly flexed over your second and third toes.
2 Allow your arms to extend and hang to the sides of your body, with a dumbbell in each hand.
3 Keep your hips level.
Keep abs and glutes drawn in.
Movement
4 Draw in your abs and squeeze your glutes.
5 Begin by flexing your elbows.
6 Curl the dumbbells to chest level.
7 Slowly return the dumbbells to their original position by extending at the elbows.
WORKOUT BASICS Repetitions And Sets: Same for both men and women; varies depending on individual goals (toning muscle vs. building muscle vs. building strength).
Intensity: This is the percentage of your one-rep maximum (the maximum amount of weight you can lift at one time). For example, if your goal is to build muscle, you would perform repetitions using 70 percent to 75 percent of your one-rep maximum (see below). That means that if you can bench press 100 pounds one time, you would perform each repetition using a maximum of 75 pounds of weight.
Toning Muscle (Strength/Endurance)
Sets: 2-3 /// Reps: 15-25 /// Intensity: 50% - 70%
Building Muscle (Hypertrophy)
Sets: 3 /// Reps: 9-12 /// Intensity: 70% - 75%
Strength Adaptation
Sets: 3-4 /// Reps: 6-8 /// Intensity: 75% - 85%
