Posts Tagged ‘dumbbells’

What are the Effective Exercises for Biceps?

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Building your biceps requires working on the muscles of your upper arm. In order to buld muscles in the upper arm however, you need to stimulate muscle growth, and this can be done through weight training exercises. Compound exercises with free weights work better in this context than machine based exercises or isolation exercises. The primary function of the biceps is for the usage of the shoulders and elbows. Therefore, working on your biceps will ensure that day to day things which require your upper arm muscles will be that much easier. Regardless of whether you’re in it for body building or toning down your body or losing weight, bicep exercises work incredibly well.

The actual name of the bicep muscles of your upper arm is the brachili muscle. For your legs, the muscles are called biceps femoris and these are situated behind your thighs. The biceps in your arms are required in turning your forearms and your elbows. Therefore, in order to pick things up, you need your biceps. Also, bringing your arm upwards and forwards needs the help of the biceps too.

Three kinds of muscles

Apart from the biceps, the brachialis and the brachioradialis muscles also benefit from these exercises. The brachialis muscles help in bringing the forearm to the upper arm by bending the elbow, and so does the brachioradialis muscles, which assist in flexing of the elbow joint. In fact, brachialis muscles are a lot stronger than biceps, and taken together, these three are generally considered as “biceps”.

Curl exercises

The most obvious, and probably the most popular of all bicep exercises are the curls. The curl exercises are carried out by using dumbbells, or resistance tubes. What you do is stand upright and keep your arms to your sides, elbows straightened as much as possible. Then, with your palms facing outwards, lift the weight towards your chest and see to it that your elbows don’t move back. Then bring the weight back to the starting position of your arms and repeat with the other arm. You might also want to bring both weights up to your chest together, depending upon the weights and your capability and strength. Don’t overdo it, as you might hurt yourself.

Exercises similar to Curl exercises

Other exercises in this category are generally variations of the bicep curls. One of the most popular exercises is the chin curl. The chin curl is different from the bicep curl in that it requires an underhand grip, with the palms facing towards you, not away. You also need to bring your chin on top of the bar. It is extremely important that you remember to exercise your triceps too, because although not as visible, they are crucial.

Possible injuries

Tendinitis is a condition that arises from overuse of the bicep muscles. Some of the symptoms include pain in the shoulder front, when there is movement or bending of the arm, or when its pulled overhead. Upon rupturing of the tendon, a sharp pain may follow, as well as a bruise or a popping sound. Some of the treatments include drugs, painkillers, rest and application of ice to the area. One must never overwork oneself, therefore, when it comes to bicep exercises. They are small muscles, and do not require too much work.

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Bicep Exercises to Build the Guns

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

If you regularly work out and you are particularly interested in looking your best because of it, there is no doubt that you have thought about working on your biceps.  Although there are a limited number of bicep exercises that can be done, doing them regularly can help you to build this part of your body and to have a great looking pair of arms as a result.  There are some things that you need to know about these exercises, however, and some things that you can do in order to make them more effective.

The first thing is, you are extremely limited as far as bicep exercises are concerned.  You can do any number of different curling techniques, which include using machines, preacher curls, concentration curls and related exercises but they all really accomplish the same basic thing.  Even though you will be hitting the muscle to a certain extent from different angles, the curling technique is the only way for you to effectively isolate this muscle and work it.  That being said, mixing up the way that you’re working out your biceps can do a lot to help them to grow larger.

If you have spent a long time doing concentration curls or perhaps preacher curls, it might be time for you to mix things up a little bit.  Some people notice a large difference whenever they go from working with a barbell to working with dumbbells and other people notice a difference whatever they do bicep exercises that isolate one arm at a time, such as concentration curls.  By keeping things mixed up regularly, you will be able to benefit the most from this form of exercise.

If you plan on isolating the biceps one at a time, you will want to make sure that you’re working your weaker arm before you work your stronger arm.  Although this is a very effective way at helping you to make sure that your arms grow equally, it is often overlooked.  Even while you’re working your weaker arm, your stronger arm is going to become fatigued, with the rest of your body.  If you work your stronger arm first, you may not have the energy necessary to really get the pump out of your weaker arm.

You might also want to do other exercises in order to build your arms.  Arm size is not really regulated by the bicep and as a matter of fact, large triceps are what are going to make your arms look larger, overall.  Make sure that you are doing these regularly as well, perhaps on alternating days in order to get the most out of your workouts.  Along with that, you’ll want to do other strength training exercises for the larger muscles of your body, your legs.  Believe it or not, having a strong core and legs can help you to have strong and well-defined biceps.

One of the most important things about doing bicep exercises is the fact that you are going to be consistent with your efforts.  You’re not going to see maximum growth if you only go about it halfheartedly.  Work on this muscle and work on it regularly, you will see differences in the way it looks.

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Shoulder Exercises That Really Work

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Although it certainly is possible for you to build up almost any area of the body, the shoulders seem to be one that many men are interested in working on the most. There are a variety of different shoulder exercises that can be done which can not only build the shoulders but can also shape and define them. There’s no doubt that having a nice set of shoulders is going to help you to look your best, especially if you work on your entire body at the same time. That being said, there are some specific shoulder exercises which can help you more than others.

The most common type of shoulder exercises are those which involve a lifting motion. These can either be done by pressing the weight over the head or by raising it straight in front of the body or off to the side. Some people use a barbell in order to do this but it is often a better idea if you use dumbbells in order to work each shoulder separately. If you use a barbell in order to do a press, you are going to be using your strong arm more than your weak arm. By using dumbbells, you will not only work the weak arm just as much, you will also be working many of the stabilizer muscles which help to strengthen this area of the body.

A good example of a shoulder exercise that is rather popular is the shoulder press. If you’re just starting out exercising in this way, you might want to try using a smith machine or making sure that somebody is nearby in order to help you, should you happen to run out of steam. The shoulders are easily injured, especially whenever you’re first starting your workout so make sure that you take it easy until they are able to build up some strength.

Another common mistake which gets done is that many people will do a shoulder press and bring the weight down behind the neck. They mistakenly think that this type of exercise is going to hit the shoulders from a different angle but in reality, you are risking not only injuring your shoulders but also injuring your neck. Whenever doing shoulder exercises that involve oppressing motion, always make sure that the weight comes down in front of the face or in the case of dumbbells, that if a bar were attached between them, it would come down in front of the face.

There are a variety of other shoulder exercises that can be done, such as the shrug. This simple exercise is done while holding dumbbells in either hand with your arms straight down by your side. Simply shrug your shoulders and this will help you to build those muscles rather easily. This is an excellent exercise to do in between other exercises, as it is more of a complementary shoulder workout when compared to the regular shoulder exercises that are done.

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