Arm Workout

Build Upper Arms With Lying Triceps Extension

October 26, 2015 by Strongains

Lying triceps extensions have always been among the premier exercises for filling out your upper arms, but you may not be getting the full effect.

Pointing your guns perpendicular to the floor when you lock the weight out gives your triceps a break—the load transfers to your elbow joints. It’s just like the top position of a bench press, and it doesn’t stimulate the triceps.

Instead, move your arms back a bit so they’re about 45 degrees to the floor. When you bend your elbows, the weight will come down below the back of your head, giving the triceps a greater stretch.

When you extend your elbows, you can still lock out the weight, giving you the benefit of training through a full range of motion, but your tri’s will stay engaged because your arms are at an angle rather than vertical.The pull of gravity will focus the load squarely on the triceps.

Another Advantage – Because the weight never sits directly on the joints, this extension won’t aggravate your elbows.

via Build Your Upper Arms With the Lying Triceps Extension

Image Public Domain from pixabay

The Benefits Of Doing Spiderman Pushups

September 16, 2015 by Strongains

Doing pushups can be a good way to work on your upper body strength, but there are many variations that you can do besides the basic exercises that you learned in P.E. classes in school. For example, doing Spiderman pushups can be a good way to get more out of your workouts.

Learning how to do these pushups is simple, and you can include them in your daily workouts. By doing them on a regular basis, you can expand your repertoire and have more options open to you when you are working out. This helps keep you from getting bored with the same few exercises.

To do this type of pushup, start in the familiar plank position. Your feet should be together and your legs held straight. Put your hands on the floor a bit farther apart than your shoulders. Be sure to keep your back straight, and do not let your rear end stick up in the air.

Lower yourself to the ground, as in a normal pushup, by bending your elbows. However, when you are at the lowest point of the movement, do not simply raise yourself back up to the starting position. Instead, lift your right foot off the ground and bring your knee forward until it reaches your elbow.

Hold this position for a moment, and then return your right leg to its initial position. Push yourself back up to the plank position. Repeat the same movement, but this time bring your left knee forward to your left elbow. Continue alternating sides for as many reps as you want.

The advantages of doing a Spiderman pushup are that it helps your chest and arm muscles work harder. When you move your leg forward, it shifts your weight, which means that your muscles have to adjust to the new position. This helps to work different muscle groups, increasing the resistance and helping you strengthen your muscles more quickly.

As with most forms of pushups, a Spiderman pushup mainly works your pectoral muscles, your deltoids, and your triceps. It is an excellent form of upper body workout. It also can engage your core muscles and helps to strengthen them.

Since you are only supporting yourself on three points of contact when you move your leg forward, this means that your abdominals and other core muscles have to work harder to maintain stability. Moving your legs forward and back also helps to work your lower abs since it mimics the movement used in many abdominal exercises.

These pushups are an excellent addition to any exercise regimen, especially if you are an athlete or outdoor enthusiast who needs to maintain a strong upper body. Because they also work the abdominal muscles, they let you strengthen multiple muscle groups at the same time, making your workouts more efficient.

Learning how to do Spiderman pushups gives you more options when you are working out. Start to incorporate these and other variations on the basic pushup into your daily exercise routine.

Trap Bar Deadlift Benefits

September 12, 2015 by Strongains

Deadlift Benefits

There are many benefits to dead-lifting that makes it advantageous as workouts for bodybuilders as well as weightlifters. Because dead-lifting requires the use of all major muscle groups, it provides overall strength and growth to muscle groups such as quads, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, obliques, abdominals and lower back muscles. A single deadlift is equivalent to a combination of several strength exercises such as leg presses, abdominal crunches and squats.

Deadlifting releases crucial components like growth hormones and testosterone to increase stability and control of minor muscles. It will also increase forearm and grip strength to aid in other lifts such as bench presses. It strengthens the lower back muscles which protect your body from damage when doing heavy workouts.

Deadlifting will also tax the cardiovascular system and strengthen the heart muscles.

Trap Bar Deadlift

The trap bar, or hex bar, is a hexagonal, or sometimes diamond shaped weight lifting bar that looks something like the chassis of a car. Despite its strange looking appearance, the trap bar is considered by weight lifters to be one of the most innovative strength training pieces of equipment to hit the weight training industry during the past thirty years. Originally patented by the power lifting aficionado, Al Gerard, who was looking for an alternative form of weight training because of a lower back injury, the trap bar has since gathered the support of coaches who recommend it as an alternative to squats and straight bar deadlifts, to protect and strengthen injuries to the lower back.

Deadlifts are not mainly for those who wish to work around an injury, but can be used as a stand-alone exercise in a modern strength program, with benefits that will surpass that of traditional straight bar deadlifts.

Trap Bar Deadlift Benefits

The trap bar is used in specialized training in two main exercises, the shrug and the deadlift. This deadlift is considered far superior to barbells for power and strength training as it transfers the load more to the knees than to the hips of the lumbar spine, ideal for those suffering from lower back problems.

The trap bar provides a safer version of deadlift than the straight bar version as it produces significant levels of peak force, power and velocity while allowing more weight to be lifted over a longer period of time. It reduces the potential for injury and at the same time maximizes power. The upright torso position used in the deadlift improves posture and corrects weightlifting techniques.

The technique used in a this deadlift is more advantageous for beginning weight lifters who require a greater amount of upfront coaching in their mobility work. The one thing coaches find challenging is to prevent the over-extension of the back muscles which can be avoided with the right type of execution.

For most weight lifters, getting into the correct deadlift position using a straight bar is quite challenging without lots of coaching and mobility work upfront. This is especially true for those who are desk bound for 8 hours per day and do not have the same flexibility as serious lifters who practice their lumbar flexions and posterior pelvic tilt postures for hours. The trap bar design allows a more upright torso position where the knees move forward, allowing the hips to sit lower, which avoids scraping the shins as sometimes happens with a straight bar movement.

This strength training exercise is a good one, as you can see here. It helps to prevent injury, utilizes your full strength, and is a great exercise for your legs and back.