Weight Training Tips and Guide

Push/pull split routine

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This type of split separates your upper body pushing muscles (the chest and triceps) from the upper body muscles involved in pulling (your back and biceps). You can do your lower body and abdominal exercises on either day or on a separate day altogether. Or you can include your legs with your pushing muscles and your abdominals with your pulling muscles. Savvy readers will notice that we haven’t mentioned where your shoulders fit into the push/pull split. There’s no simple answer because shoulders don’t fit neatly into either the push or the pull category; the shoulders are partially involved in both movements. Where you work in your shoulders is a matter of personal preference. Some people like to work their shoulders right after their chest muscles. Others like to do shoulder exercises after their back exercises. Still others prefer to divide their body into three workouts: back and biceps; chest and triceps; shoulders, leg, and abs. Push/pull split routines are popular among experienced exercisers who want to go to town with each muscle group. You may see people spend two hours just working their back and biceps. However, other people feel unbalanced after one of these routines because they worked only one side of their torso.

The upper body/lower body split

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The upper body/lower body split is perhaps the simplest split, a good one for beginners to try. You don’t have much to remember: It’s pretty obvious which exercises work the muscles above the belt and which work your muscles down south. When you work your upper body one day and your lower body the next, each zone of your body gets more of a complete rest than for any other way you do your split.
People who do the upper/lower split generally train their abdominals with their lower body, but this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. Don’t make the mistake of working your abs every workout. Remember, the abs are like any other muscle group: They need time to recover. Two or three abdominal workouts a week will suffice.

Split Routines

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Regardless of your goals, you need to hit each muscle group at least twice a week. The simplest way to accomplish this is to perform two total-body workouts per week; in other words, twice a week perform a routine that works every major muscle group.
Total-body workouts are great if you’re doing only one or two exercises per muscle group. But when you get serious about weight training — adding exercises and sets — a total-body workout can become tedious. If your schedule permits you to lift weights at least 4 days a week (the sessions can be as short as 15 minutes), consider doing a split routine. You split a total-body routine into two or three shorter routines. For example, you can train your upper body on one day and your lower body the next. You can even split your upper body muscles into three different workouts. (We discuss these options in detail later in this section.)
Split routines are ideal for people who have the time to work out several days a week but may not have much time for each workout session. Split routines also work well for people who have a short attention span for weight training or who want to give each muscle group an extra-hard workout. Brief, focused workouts help you stay motivated. If you walk into the gym knowing that all you have to do today is work your back and biceps, you’re more likely to give those muscle group exercises an all-out effort.
When designing a split routine, you need to follow two basic rules: Hit each muscle group at least twice a week, and don’t work the same muscle group on consecutive days. This second rule is a bit more complicated than it sounds. For example, you may think that it’s okay to work your triceps and thighs on Monday and then your chest and butt on Tuesday. Actually, it’s not. You see, most chest exercises also work the triceps, and most butt exercises also work the thighs. So, if you work your triceps on Monday, they won’t have recovered sufficiently by Tuesday to help out on your chest exercises. These rules may sound confusing, but within a few weeks, they’ll become second nature. Until then, here’s a list of muscle pairs that you shouldn’t work on back-to-back days:

Chest and triceps
Back and biceps
Butt and thighs

Understanding Progression

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Progressing your program or increasing intensity over time requires skill and patience. You don’t want to progress too quickly or you risk injury; but, if you don’t progress your program, it will become stale. After you’ve mastered 15 reps to fatigue at a particular weight, you’re ready to progress to two sets. After you’ve mastered two sets of 15 reps to fatigue, you can add an additional set or you can progress to a heavier weight level in the 8 to 12 rep range. Increase your weight by up to 5 percent. For example, let’s say you’ve been lifting 40 pounds for 15 reps for two sets. To progress, you would increase by 2 pounds and lift 42 pounds for 8 to 12 reps for one set. The challenge with lower weight ranges is that it is difficult to find small weights to add the incremental poundage. If you’re working on machines, look for the small 5-pound bars that you can rest on top of the stack. If you’re working with dumbbells with narrow handles, you can hold more than one in your hand.
Another way to progress your program is to add variety by performing more exercises for each muscle group. This continues to stimulate the muscle by working the muscles through different movement patterns and by requiring more muscle fibers to work.

Putting Together Back Health and Balance Routines

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Core training has a different emphasis than training for strength. Follow these tips to maximize the effectiveness of your workout routines.

Always warm up: Because these are shorter workouts, you can do your warm-up as part of your workout with core specific and balance exercises. Active exercises that warm up your muscles and challenge your core stabilizers include lunges or squats, particularly one-legged squats. You can even use push-ups. Don’t work at an all-out level, but instead work at a level that is appropriate for a warm-up.
Focus on endurance: To improve core stabilization, your focus is on increasing muscular endurance. Do anywhere from 12 to 20 reps depending on the specific exercise. Do two to three sets as time permits.
Thirty-second rest periods: Your rest periods should be shorter because you’re focusing on improving endurance.
Use good form: Don’t continue to perform an exercise past the point where you can execute it with good form. Because these exercises are also for the purpose of improving your movement efficiency, it’s critical that you use good quality movement in every repetition.
Listen to your body: You want to be particularly careful to avoid any strain to your lower ack or to your neck. Listen to your body. If any exercise causes you pain, don’t do it. If you have specific back issues, follow the instructions of your healthcare provider.
Always stretch: To be more efficient, you can incorporate stretches either directly after particular exercises to use the time during the rest period, or you can do a series of stretches at the end of your workout. For best results, always include stretches to enhance balanced muscle development and promote flexibility and ease of movement.

Previewing Balance Gadgets

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In addition to balance-specific exercises, you can find some helpful gadgets for training balance at equipment specialty stores. Three catalogs, Fitness Wholesale (800-537-5512), SPRI® (800-222-7774), and Power Systems® (800-321-6975), all sell these gadgets through their catalogs and through their online Web sites. Many of these training tools come with helpful manuals that demonstrate exercises.
One of my favorite is a balance board, a round board balanced on a knob or a ball. You stand on this and balance in a variety of oneand two-legged positions. With her background as a yoga and Pilates trainer, Shirley loves stability balls, foam rollers, and the BOSU®. Available worldwide, the BOSU is a dome-shaped training product that can be used right side up or upside down. That is why its name comes from “both sides up.” The BOSU comes with great workout routines.

Balance-specific Exercises

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While you can improve balance by practicing ancient East Asian movement arts, you can also do balance-specific exercises. Whatever approach you choose to improve your balance is appropriate. The key is to select the exercises that appeal to you and motivate you to do them regularly. We think that balance-specific exercises like the ones listed below are taught best one-on-one or in small groups supervised by a trainer or physical therapist with a practiced eye and in-depth knowledge of anatomy and body alignment. However, you can also do a number of excellent drills on your own. Keep in mind that balance exercises are about quality not quantity. Focus hard when you perform the following moves, and don’t get frustrated if you’re not graceful at first. For example, walking across a low wooden beam, or pretending you are, requires a constant correction of knee, hip, and head alignment. All of your muscles from head to toe must work in synch in order for you to glide across the beam without extending your arms in the air or wandering off the edge. This can be tough at first, but with practice, you can master this move in just a few sessions. After a while, balance exercises awaken reflexes and add to body awareness and control on a subconscious level. This can translate into lasting improvements in posture and overall quality of movement.
Do these exercises two or three times a week at the end of your regular weight training sessions. Start with one set of each exercise and gradually work up to three sets. If you feel that you need more work, try an additional session or two each week. This type of training is deceptively challenging and can leave you feeling exhausted and sore if you overdo it at first. Even if you know other balance exercises, don’t do more than four moves in a session.

Balance beam walk: Walk slowly across a low wooden beam, while maintaining a tall posture, keeping your knees forward and your hands relaxed at your sides. If you don’t have a balance beam, draw or tape a straight line 6 to 12 feet long on the floor. Place one foot directly in front of the other and stay as steady as possible. If you fall off the beam or wander off your line, simply get back on and continue from that point. See Figure 20-2.

Focus your eyes on the end of the beam to help you keep your balance.
Easier version: Extend your arms out to the side, but only as much as is necessary. Aim to make three back-and-forth trips.
Harder version: Walk backwards.

Fulcrum: With your arms relaxed at your sides, stand on one foot with your other leg extended behind you and a few inches off the floor. Lean a few inches forward and maintain your balance for up to one minute. Then slowly bring your foot back to the floor, and repeat with your other leg. Do three to five repetitions with each leg.

Easier version: Rest your fingertips lightly against a wall, chair, or other sturdy object.
Harder version: Lean forward a few inches more. When you get good at this, lean forward until your torso is perpendicular to the floor.

Ostrich: With your arms relaxed at your sides, stand on one foot with your opposite knee bent and your opposite foot a few inches off the floor directly in front of you. Hold this position for up to a minute, slowly return your foot to the floor, and then repeat with the other foot. Do three to five repetitions with each leg.

Easier version: Rest your fingertips lightly against a wall, chair, or some other sturdy object.
Harder version: Do the exercise with your eyes closed.

Practicing Yoga, Tai Chi, or Qigong

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The ancient practices of hatha yoga, tai chi, and qigong that come to us from India and China are rooted in cultural traditions that included these exercises as a way of maintaining physical, mental, and spiritual well-being and balance. Numerous modern studies of these practices substantiate these benefits after putting them to the test with rigorous scientific analyses. All these practices are suitable for people of all ages, young and old, and are particularly attractive to older adults because they can be pursued on a gentle basis. While many American practitioners of yoga enjoy more vigorous styles, these exercises can be easily adapted to suit a variety of levels as shown in the accompanying photographs.

Keeping Your Balance

2011-01-31T20:40:00.000-08:00

Special receptor cells located in your skin, muscles, joints, and tendons —the fancy term for these cells is proprioceptors — process information about your body’s orientation as it moves through space. For instance, when you walk across a lawn, your proprioceptors tell you things like “Okay, I’m putting my feet here now. The ground is spongy because it’s grass. It has a little give and isn’t completely uniform.”
The majority of these special receptor cells that are responsible for your postural stability are located in your multifidus, deep muscles located in your lower back. Your deep abdominals and deep back muscles are primarily responsible for your ability to maintain your balance. Unless you continue to challenge your core stabilizer muscles and your sense of balance, you lose your abilities. This process is explained by the popular saying, “Use it or lose it,” which is an accurate description.
As you age and allow these muscles to weaken, these proprioceptors become less sensitive, giving your brain less information and feedback to work with. Now when you walk across a lawn, you don’t get quite so much input about the texture or give of the surface, and you’re more likely to stumble on little inconsistencies of terrain. Slower reflexes and decreased muscular strength, combined with deteriorating eyesight and depth perception, also contribute to a diminished sense of equilibrium.
A fear of falling may be another reason that older people experience a loss of balance. Ironically, this fear may increase the risk of falling. When people worry about taking a tumble, they try to compensate by standing with their feet farther apart and walking with smaller steps. However, these adjustments actually prevent you from judging subtle cues from the environment, like the firmness of the ground and small changes in height of the surface you’re walking on.
What’s more, poor balance results in a shaky, unsteady gait. It becomes harder to go up or down stairs or negotiate high curbs and other obstacles that you may not otherwise give a second thought. You may find it more difficult to reach for objects on overhead shelves or to stand in tight spots on trains, in line, and in crowds with your feet close together. Fortunately, you can reduce or reverse some of these problems and, as a result, you can become less accident prone. One study looked at 110 men and women with an average age of 80. After three months of performing balance exercises regularly, most of the subjects had the body control of people three to ten years younger.

Benefiting from Good Posture

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Improving your posture literally changes your life. Not only will you look taller, appear slimmer, and feel better, but also you’ll have fewer daily aches and pains. Regardless of your age and current level of fitness, improving your posture with the exercise programs listed later in this chapter benefit you. Everyone needs good posture, because it is important to musculoskeletal health and injury prevention. Older adults can dramatically reduce the odds of falling and maintain a good quality of life. Athletes can improve their performance on the playing field.
You’ll gain a few benefits from posture training.

Prevent or reduce the likelihood of low back pain
Reduce injuries
Enhance joint efficiency
Increase range of motion
Improve flexibility
More energy

Evaluating Your Posture

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An easy and quick way to assess your posture is to look at yourself from a side profile. The following five points should align vertically:

Ear
Shoulder
Hip
Knee
Ankle

Your posture should reflect the natural S-shaped curve of the spine. These curves help reduce impact forces on your body by allowing it to be more resilient. Imbalances in your body usually contribute to poor posture. These imbalances may result from any of the following:

Muscle imbalances: Muscles create movement by working in combination with other muscles. In a well-balanced body, muscles co-exist in balance with each other. For example, weak shins usually co-exist with tight calves and contribute to tighter muscles along the back of the legs.
Tight muscles: Tight muscles, often a result of muscle imbalances, also create stress on joints, and result in less flexibility and less ROM.
Past injuries: Accidents from your youth such as broken bones and torn ligaments can permanently alter your posture. A broken leg can lead to one leg being shorter than another. A shoulder injury that tore ligaments can lead to lingering stiffness and a reduced ROM on one side of your body when compared to the other side.
Genetics: Certain postural deviations can be part of your family heritage. For example, scoliosis, a curvature of the spine is often an inherited condition. Another congenital condition that affects posture is flat feet.

After you’ve identified the causes of your postural imbalances, start addressing them. If the reasons are muscular, use an exercise program to improve your posture. Following one of the suggested core routines would be a great start, because these routines are beginning workouts that are suitable for people at all levels of ability. If the reasons are due to injury or genetics, your healthcare provider can help you find appropriate support such as heel lifts or orthotics for your shoes. Whatever your condition, you can always improve and if you have ideal posture, then you can work to keep up your great shape to stay that way.
Wearing high-heeled shoes daily contributes to poor posture. If worn regularly, high heels cause tightening and shortening of the calves, tightness in the lower back, and knee pain. Your best bet is to vary your heel heights and not wear the same shoes two days in a row. Reserve your high-heeled fashion shoes for times when you don’t need to walk long distances. Also, buy your shoes a half size larger and invest in some comfortable insoles, or for fashion shoes, get the less noticeable narrow versions.

How to Have A Healthy Back?

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Regular exercise is one of the best ways you can prevent back pain. Good body mechanics, or moving properly, as you sit, stand, bend over, pick things up, and push and pull furniture are also important. Repetitive motions, if performed incorrectly over time, can cause joint strain and injury. You aren’t helpless against back pain. What you do daily makes a powerful difference. Small changes can go a long way to preventing debilitating pain. Observe the following basic tips for a lifetime of back health.

Exercise regularly: Following a consistent, balanced exercise program will go a long way toward keeping you fit and strong.
Use good posture: You can practice good posture every waking moment and improve your posture. Naturally, you aren’t going to remember every minute, but the more times that you catch yourself slouching, the more often you can correct yourself and use your core stabilizers.
Move properly: The most common way people injure their backs is when they bend over, pick something up, and turn their body as they stand. Practice good movement mechanics whenever you lift, bend, or pick up and carry anything. Even if you pick up a pencil, use good movement habits. That way when you pick up something that is heavier, you’re much more likely to do it properly.
Check your desk setup: Make sure your desk at the office and at home is set up according to good ergonomic principles. Make sure that your chair fits your body and that your computer and monitor are positioned so that as you work, you use good posture.
Use a headset: Many people spend a lot of time talking on the phone and bending their necks into awkward positions. Your head weighs anywhere from 8 to 12 pounds. If you hold it improperly, you can affect your overall posture. Use headsets whenever possible, especially for extended conversations.
Use a backpack: People often carry heavy and unbalanced loads on their shoulders. Balance the weight by using a good quality backpack and avoid carrying things that are too heavy.
Buy furniture that offers support: Every chair or couch that you sit on affects your posture, particularly if it’s a piece of furniture that you use often. A good bed is also important, because you spend one-third of your life sleeping, and if you’re not getting good support, it will affect your posture. Make sure the furniture in your life is also supporting a healthy back and good posture.

Core Programs for Good Balance and a Healthy Back

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More than 80 percent of adults in North America suffer from back pain at some point in their adult life. That statistic is staggering. In the United States, back pain is the leading cause of disability from work. One major American corporation spent $75 million in only one year to pay healthcare providers who treated employees with low back pain. Back pain is often related to poor posture and lack of stability in the spine, due to weak core muscles. In addition, poor postural stability over the years eventually leads to balance problems in later years. Increasingly, older adults are suffering from falls or from the fear of falling. The same contributing factors that present as a pain in the back when you’re younger, can lead to a broken hip or permanent use of a walker when you’re older. One out of every three people over age 65 falls at least once a year. Twenty five percent of people over the age of 50 who break a hip die from a fall within the first year after the accident. About 50 percent of those who break their hips never regain full walking ability. That should get your attention. The loss of balance and postural control doesn’t happen overnight, but occurs slowly over the years, as the muscles that support good posture grow weaker.
Just as you need to take preventive measures against osteoporosis and muscle wasting, you need to act now to preserve your sense of equilibrium for the future. Better balance also serves you well in dozens of sports, from mountain biking to rock climbing to in-line skating. You’ll catch on to these activities more quickly and avoid injuries that would befall those with a shakier sense of balance.
More and more health clubs are adding classes onto their schedules that incorporate core training and balance exercises and use balance training equipment.

How to set up your home gym for quickies?

2010-12-31T22:54:00.000-08:00

If you think you’ll need quickie workouts from time to time to keep up your conditioning; then streamlining your home gym is essential. If you only have ten minutes to exercise, you don’t want to spend six of those minutes trying to find where you put your exercise bands. Management of your home gym space is critical for successful quickies. The following tips help ensure that your home exercise space is ideal for quickies.

Consistent space: If space permits, the ideal situation is to have a dedicated space that’s only used for your exercise sessions. In many homes, however, space is at a premium. If you can’t allocate a spot only for exercise, at a minimum choose a place that you use consistently and that’s large enough for your movement needs.
Storage containers for equipment: You must have proper storage for your equipment in order to find it quickly and to avoid accidents. Storage is particularly important when it comes to dumbbells because other family members or you may trip over randomly placed equipment. For every type of equipment that you purchase — dumbbells, bands, tubing, stretch straps, mats — you need to have a place for it to belong. Store dumbbells on racks and use baskets or crates for bands, tubing, and stretch straps.
Workout plans or log: You want to be able to do your routine immediately. If you haven’t memorized it, you need to reference it quickly and easily. If you keep a workout log, keep it with all of your equipment. All of your workout design resources (such as this book) should also be easily available.

Clock or timer: If you know that time is always going to be an issue, keep a clock visible either in or near your workout area. As an alternative, keep a timer and set it for 10 or 15 minutes or whatever you’ve allocated, so you’ll stay within your time budget and be sure to complete your planned exercises.

Putting Together Your Quickie Routine

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Observe the following points each time that you train.

Always warm up. Even for a quick workout, you need to prepare your body for more rigorous work. Walk briskly for five minutes before you exercise. This warm-up includes walking quickly around the house, the yard, or in the parking lot at the office.
Work all major muscle groups. Be sure to do exercises for your upper body, your lower body, and your core a minimum of twice a week.
Apply program variables. Even for short workouts, training frequency, exercise selection, order, amount of weight, number of reps, number of sets, and your rest periods are all still important components. Just because you’re doing a quickie workout does not mean that you can throw all the weight training principles out the window. All the rules still apply.
Train in one minute sets. In general, one set of a particular exercise takes approximately one minute. If each rep requires two seconds up, a brief pause, and two seconds down, plan on five to six seconds per rep. Therefore, a set of 10-12 reps takes roughly one minute.
Alternate upper and lower body exercises. When you want to reduce the waiting time during rest periods, switch between upper and lower body exercises so that one part of your body rests while the other works. Save your core exercises for last.
Mix in stretching exercises. To be even more efficient, use your rest periods for stretches that target the muscle that you just worked. You can stretch your body all throughout the workout, and you won’t need extra time for a stretching segment at the end.

Making the Most of Quickie Training

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Organize these quickies in whatever way works best for you. The following suggestions give you several ideas on how to fit quickie workouts into your lifestyle.

Emergency total body conditioning: Normally, you do a 25-minute weight training workout 3 days a week. Imagine a time when your schedule is overloaded and you can’t possibly follow your normal workout routine. Instead of doing nothing, use one of the total body workouts to keep your muscles stimulated.
Add on to your cardio workout: Let’s say you weight train two days a week and hit the gym for cardio on three days a week. When you can’t make it for your dedicated weight training sessions, add on a 15- or 10-minute quickie workout on the weight machines, after you finish your cardio-training.
Divide your workout throughout the day: Sometimes it’s simply impossible to find more than a few spare minutes. Instead of giving up on strength training entirely, fit in a quickie workout in the morning and in the afternoon. You might even want to add on another session at night. Three 10- or 15-minute workouts easily add up to 30 or 45 minutes of training.
Do a daily quickie: Maybe all you ever have time for during the week is a quickie workout. Until your life settles down and you find more time, schedule a daily quickie workout. Each day target either the upper or lower body and the core. Take Friday off. On Saturday, fit in one thorough total body workout and rest on Sunday.

Quickie Workouts for Busy Days

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For best results, you want to train your entire body at least two to three times a week. Three times a week gives you faster results but takes more of your personal time. Studies show that you get 75 percent of your results from training two days a week, compared to training three days a week. Life happens. You can’t always stick to an ideal training schedule. For those days and weeks that are simply too busy, shorter workouts are better than no workouts. Or you can split up training your body into short increments daily so you hit at least each section of your body at least two times a week. Your training program needs to fit your life.
In this blog category, you get a variety of quickie workouts to use for those busy periods when you can’t follow an ideal training schedule. The quickies are organized in 10 and 15 minute segments and are appropriate for either the gym or the home. As a personal trainer and international presenter who’s trained thousands of people worldwide, Shirley recommends that you try to find at least 15 minutes each day in your schedule for a workout so that exercising becomes part of your daily routine — like brushing your teeth. These routines give you plenty of choices for what to do in those 15-minute increments.

Doing circuits at the gym

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Many gyms have a dozen or so machines arranged in a circle or row called a circuit. They’re placed in a logical order (from larger to smaller muscles) so you can move from machine to machine without having to use any brainpower to decide which exercise to do next.
Some fitness facilities, such as Curves®, revolve entirely around circuit training.
Many facilities also offer cardio-resistance circuits where in-between strength training stations, they have cardio stations. For example, you may jog or march in place, do jumping jacks, or jump on a trampoline in-between lifting weights. The concept behind these workouts is keeping your heart rate at the low end of an aerobic training zone so you also receive some aerobic conditioning benefits as well. Because this workout represents a compromise, you’re not getting an optimum cardio or strength workout. Instead, you’re trying to hit two goals at once, which is of course, better than hitting only one or no goals, especially if you’re time crunched. After reviewing weight training principles, you may understand why circuits are a good place for beginners to start training. Typically, you’ll do one set at each machine and have about a 30-second rest interval between stations. This is the lower intensity side of the spectrum and has a reduced risk of injury.

Using the rest period

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How long you rest in-between sets is also a part of your routine. If you want to increase maximal strength, you need a long rest period of up to four minutes. If you’re looking to improve muscular endurance, 30 seconds or even less rest is fine. And, if you want to increase size, your rest period should be about 30 seconds to one-and-a-half minutes. If you are a beginner, and that lasts for at least the first three consecutive months of training, take as long as you need. You’re considered a beginner until you have completed three consecutive months of consistent training at least two to three days a week.

Choosing the right weight

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The right weight level depends on what you want to achieve from your training, because it relates to the number of reps that you perform. To develop strength, you want to do one to six reps. To increase muscle size, do between 6 to 12 reps. And, to improve endurance, do between 12 and 20 reps. A onerep max equals the total amount of weight you can lift with one repetition and means you’re giving a 100 percent effort. More reps represent what are referred to as sub-maximal loads. See the bullet points below for reference.
_ 1 rep = 100 percent
_ 2-3 reps = 95 percent
_ 4-5 reps = 90 percent
_ 6-7 reps = 85 percent
_ 8-9 reps = 80 percent
_ 10-11 reps = 75 percent
_ 12-13 reps = 70 percent
_ 14-15 reps = 65 percent
_ 16-20 reps = 60 percent

As you can see, a moderate intensity workout of lifting 70 to 80 percent of your one rep max is in the 8 to 13 rep range. Performing fewer reps — and using ultra-heavy weights — carries a greater risk of injury. And doing more than 12 reps is generally not effective for building strength, but doing up to 20 to 25 reps does improve muscular endurance. To keep yourself motivated and your muscles challenged, you may want to vary the number of reps you perform. You can use a periodized program that first emphasizes muscular strength and then later emphasizes muscular endurance. For example, you can do 6 to 8 repetitions one month and then 12 to 15 the next. Finding the right weight for each exercise requires some trial and error. Don’t be afraid to add or subtract weight after you start a set. We’ve seen people contort their bodies to finish a set just because they overestimated what they could lift but who were too embarrassed, too stubborn, or simply not aware of the huge risk of injury to drop down a plate.

Doing exercises in the right order

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In general, follow the rule of doing your upper and lower body exercises in the order of your larger muscles first, and then your smaller muscles. Lastly, exercise your middle body, your lower back and abdominals, as they serve to stabilize your body as you do all the prior exercises.
Upper body

Chest and back (It doesn’t matter which comes first.)
Shoulders
Biceps and triceps (It doesn’t matter which comes first.)
Wrists

Lower body

Butt
Thighs
Calves and shins (It doesn’t matter which comes first although we prefer to work our calves before our shins.)

Middle body
Perform your abdominal and lower back muscle exercises in any order you want. Mix up your core stabilization exercises with those that target the mover muscles, or do your mover exercises first, followed by your stabilizer exercises or vice versa. Researchers haven’t yet determined whether an ideal order exists for training the muscles of this part of the body.

Your lifestyle

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Ask yourself (and answer honestly): “How many times can I work out each week? How many hours can I spend at the gym, including time in the shower and the locker room?” If you’re a busy parent who also works full time, chances are you have less time to work out than a college student or retired person. Be realistic. Don’t vow to do six sets per muscle group if the only time you’re able to lift weights is during your 30-minute lunch break on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Otherwise, you fall into that why-bother? trap. You’re better off doing a 20-minute routine than skipping that 2-hour workout you planned but somehow never got around to.

Your exercise preferences

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When you first take up weight training, you may be overwhelmed by the challenge of knowing the basics of each exercise — how to stand, where to grab the weight, how to adjust the machines, when to inhale and exhale. But you soon develop strong preferences for certain exercises and equipment. Before you know it, you’ll be saying things like, “I love the incline chest fly, but I’d much rather do the dumbbell chest press on a flat bench.” Pay attention to which exercises feel good to you and which equipment you enjoy using, and design your workout accordingly. Keep in mind, however, that it’s natural to prefer the exercises that you’re better at doing. Sometimes, you may need to push yourself to do exercises that you don’t love to balance out your conditioning. Keep an open mind. You may even surprise yourself when you grow to love the push-ups that you used to hate.

Reality check: Plastic or perfect?

2010-09-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

By the way, take a big reality check: Don’t expect to look like the sculpted, fat-free people who sell weight training products on TV infomercials or magazine ads. Many of these models have unusual genetics, have taken drugs, and/or have undergone liposuction and added implants to achieve their looks (in addition to being digitally enhanced by professional film producers). In fact, among men, chest or pec and calf implants are popular, while more and more women are getting butt implants. Mentioning this phenomenon is not to advocate plastic surgery. This is simply to let you know that most people who have bodies that look a little too perfect are likely to have achieved that look through unnatural means. So don’t set yourself up for failure before you begin by trying to look like a TV or magazine model by using natural methods. It’s impossible. Simply aim to be your best you.

Weight training equipment

2010-08-31T23:24:00.000-07:00

Naturally, the exercises you choose are limited to the equipment that’s available to you. If you belong to a health club the size of Wal-Mart, you may be able to try every exercise in this book — and probably a few thousand more. One four-story club in New York City devotes an entire floor to leg machines. If you work out at a smaller club or at home, your choices are more limited, but even with rudimentary equipment, you can get your body into great shape. If you’re short on equipment, you may want to consult a trainer to find out how to make the most of the gizmos you have access to or to help you decide which key pieces of equipment you should own to achieve your particular goals.

Identifying why you want to train

2010-08-31T23:22:00.000-07:00

Too many people blindly go through the motions of a weight training program without stopping to ask themselves, “What the heck am I trying to accomplish?” So give this question some serious thought. Are you planning to scale the Grand Tetons, or do you just want to strengthen your back to add oomph to your golf swing? Remember the principle of specificity. Here’s a rundown of some common goals and how you can reach each of them. You may want to consult a trainer or medical doctor for advice that’s even more specific to your needs.

_ Improve your health. If you aspire to increase your strength, keep your bones strong, and avoid common injuries, you need not spend half of your waking hours with hunks of steel in your hands. You can get by with one exercise for every major muscle group in your body. Simply perform one set of 8 to 15 repetitions for each of the following muscle groups:
• Butt (glutes)
• Front thighs (quadriceps)
• Rear thighs (hamstrings)
• Calves
• Chest (pecs)
• Back
• Abdominals (abs)
• Shoulders (delts)
• Front of upper arm (biceps)
• Rear of upper arm (triceps)
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends doing two or three workouts a week.

_ Alter your looks. Weight training can be a powerful tool for changing your appearance by toning up your muscles, adding definition to your body’s shape, and adding size if desired and your genetics permit. If you’re large boned and muscular, however, weight training can’t make you lean and flexible — and vice versa. You need to work within your body’s parameters.
Significantly overhauling your body’s appearance requires more of a time commitment than simply improving your health. (And keep in mind that your diet, lifestyle, and cardiovascular workouts play a large role, too.) Instead of training your entire body in 25 minutes, you may need to spend 20 minutes simply on your upper body. To develop a noticeably firmer body, we suggest performing at least three sets per muscle group.

_ Train for an athletic event. Preparing for an athletic challenge at any level takes time and dedication (and weight training, of course, is just one aspect of your training). For best results, you need to tailor your weight routine precisely to the event. For example, if you’re working toward a hilly 10K walk or run, you need to give extra attention to your leg and butt muscles. And your workout will be completely different if you want to simply complete a 10K run rather than win it. Serious competitors should expect to spend a lot of serious time in the weight room at certain times of the year (primarily the off-season). And, you should consult a trainer or coach who specializes in working with athletes for a comprehensive, periodized program.

Your short-term goals should focus on the behaviors, in other words the things that you need to do or not do, to achieve your longterm objective. Your training program design should reflect your specific training objectives.

The slide exercise

2010-08-31T23:19:00.000-07:00

The slide is the perfect abdominal exercise for people prone to lower back or neck pain. Performing the slide is a good way to get your abs in shape for more challenging abdominal exercises.

Getting set
Remove your shoes. Lie on your back with your knees bent comfortably, feet hip-width apart, toes up, and heels digging into the floor. Rest your arms at your sides. Pull your abdominals in and gently push — but don’t force —your back into the floor so, to some extent, you flatten out the natural curve of the small of your back. See photo A.

The exercise
Slowly slide your heels forward as you gradually straighten your legs; don’t allow your abs to push upward or your back to pop up off the floor, even a little. Continue straightening your legs until you can’t keep your abs tight or your back on the floor or until your legs fully extend. Then slowly slide your heels back to the starting position, again taking care not to relax your middle muscles. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO slide your legs out only as far as you can while keeping your back in contact with the floor. As you get stronger, you’ll be able to straighten your legs all the way while keeping your abs pulled in and your back flat.
DO keep your head, neck, and shoulders relaxed.
DO move slowly and take the time to feel your abs working.

Other options

Single-leg slide (easier): Slide out one heel at a time. Do an equal number of reps with each leg.
Slide with paper plates (harder): Place your heels on two paper plates or in plastic bags. You have to work even harder to slide slowly and with control.
Short slide (harder): Slide your heels out to the point where you need to work the hardest to maintain your back placement on the floor. Slide your heels a few inches back and forth several times so you’re constantly working.

Reverse plank

2010-07-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

The reverse tabletop plank is an all-around excellent core stabilizer, working abs, back, glutes, and shoulder stabilizer muscles. This exercise excels because it works so many muscles simultaneously, which is the way that we challenge our bodies in real life.

Getting set
Lie on your back with your knees bent and palms under your shoulders, and then lift yourself into a tabletop position. Point your fingers in whatever direction is most comfortable for your shoulders. Slide your shoulders down. Pull your abdominals inward.

The exercise
As you exhale, squeeze your buttocks and push up onto your heels. Avoid arching your upper or lower back. Hold your head in the most comfortable position for your neck — either upright and looking down your torso or lowered gently toward the back. Work up to a 30-second hold.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your abdominals pulled in so you don’t arch your lower back or pop out your ribs.
DO keep your shoulders down. Avoid hunching or collapsing into your shoulders.
DON’T let your bottom sag down.

Other options
Reverse plank (easier): Lie on your back with your legs straight and palms under your shoulders, and then lift yourself onto your hands. Lift your hips, keeping your knees over your ankles, your abs and gluts tight and your spine lengthened. Supporting a shorter length is easier for your core stabilizers.
Reverse plank with leg lift (harder): Keep your torso parallel to the ground. Alternate lifting and lowering one leg at a time as high as you can without lowering your hips.

All fours spinal stabilization

2010-07-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

All fours spinal stabilization is an excellent exercise to condition postural muscles and to prevent lower back pain.
If you have wrist pain when you put your palms on the ground, try doing the exercise on your closed fists.

Getting set
Kneel on all fours in a tabletop position with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Slide your shoulders down. Pull your abdominals in.

The exercise
Lift and extend opposite arm and leg out straight. Keep your chest and hips parallel to the ground. Lower your arm and leg back to start. Repeat with other arm and leg.

Do’s and don’ts

DO concentrate on keeping your torso parallel to the ground.
DON’T hunch your shoulders or arch your back.

Other options
Spinal stabilization arms only or legs only (easier): Instead of simultaneously lifting the opposite arm and leg, only lift alternating arms. Repeat, only lifting alternating legs.
Spinal stabilization same side arm and leg (harder): Instead of lifting your opposite arm and leg, lift the arm and leg on the same side.

Side plank

2010-07-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

The side plank conditions core stabilizers, especially the muscles that support the shoulder girdle and lower back.
Use caution if you’re prone to shoulder discomfort.

Getting set
Recline on your left side, left hand palm down under your shoulder. Place your top right hand in front of your body. Keep your torso perpendicular to the ground, relax your shoulders, and pull in your abdominals.

The exercise
Push into your left hand and lift your hips up into a side plank position. Work up to a 30-second hold.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your shoulders down and neck lengthened. Don’t hunch or collapse into your shoulder.
DO continue to breathe normally as you hold the position. Avoid holding your breath.
DO move smoothly and with control.
DON’T collapse your chest forward or lean backward. Keep your torso perpendicular to the floor.

Other options
Modified side plank (easier): Start with your right elbow under your shoulder and with your lower leg bent at a right angle at the knee. Keep the top leg long and straight.

Side plank lifts: Instead of holding the elevated position for 30 seconds, lift and lower your hips and work up to 12 repetitions.

One-legged side plank (harder): When you reach the elevated position, pick your top leg off the floor and hold it straight at hip height.

Plank Exercise

2010-06-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

The plank is a basic core stabilization exercise that works your abs, back, glutes, and shoulder stabilizer muscles.
Do the easiest version if you have any shoulder discomfort.

Getting set
Lie facedown with your knees bent. Place your elbows under your shoulders. Slide your shoulders down and lengthen the back of your neck so your ears are in line with your shoulders. Gently pull your abdominals inward. See photo A.

The exercise
As you exhale, curl your toes under and push up onto the balls of your feet.
Avoid arching your upper or lower back. Work up to a 30-second hold.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your abdominals pulled in so you feel more tension in your abs and so you don’t overarch your lower back or pop out your ribs.
DO keep your shoulders down and your neck lengthened. Avoid hunching your shoulders.
DON’T lift your butt in the air and rest your weight on your legs.

Other options
Plank on knees (easier): Lift up on your knees, keeping your abs and glutes tight and your spine lengthened. Supporting a shorter length is easier for the core stabilizers.
One-legged plank (harder): Keep your torso parallel to the ground. Lift one leg. Work up to a 30-second hold. To make it even more difficult, pick up and extend the opposite arm as you also hold up one leg.

Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Core

2010-06-30T22:16:00.000-07:00

Most of us are weak in the core, so we need to pay particular attention to form and quality of movement.
Keep these tips in mind to get the most out of each of your core exercises:

Avoid looking like an old donkey. When you forget to tighten your abdominal muscles, particularly the deepest layer (the transversus abdominis), your back sags in the middle. When Shirley was guest teaching at a resort in Jamaica, she saw an old donkey — the perfect example of this curved posture. Now, when she teaches core exercises, she always reminds her students not to look like old donkeys. To avoid donkey posture, draw your abdominals in toward your spine as you exhale and keep your abdominals contracted for the duration of the exercise.
Don’t pop out your rib cage. Another good way to check whether your deep abdominal muscles are active is to look at the position of your rib cage. Draw your lower ribs in snug toward your spine. If your ribs flare up and out, your deep trunk stabilizers aren’t active. Tighten them up.
Don’t stick your butt up in the air. When you’re training your abs and back in positions like the plank or a push-up, you need to rely on the strength of your core muscles and not your legs. You can always tell that you are cheating by relying on your leg strength if your butt is sticking up in the air. Make sure that it is no higher than your shoulders.
When you exhale, always lift your pelvic floor up and pull your abdominals in toward your spine. The best way to activate your deep abdominals and pelvic floor muscles is by exhaling actively as you lift your muscles up and in. Exaggerate your exhalation as you do your core stabilization exercises to make sure that you’re using these muscles.

Getting a Core Workout

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To get a great core stabilization workout, you need to focus on keeping your torso solid. Because the objective of core training is to improve muscle endurance, instead of sheer strength, isometrically held exercises such as the plank are effective training methods. In addition, core exercises train your body’s stabilizer muscles to work together. For example, preventing low back pain isn’t simply about strengthening your abs. To provide optimal support for your spine, your abs, back, pelvic floor, and hip muscles all need to work together. Unlike other exercises that isolate and target a specific muscle or muscle group, core stabilization exercises challenge your whole body to work together. Form is critically important. Always stop doing an exercise when you can no longer execute it with perfect form.
Unlike the mover muscles that are closer to the surface of your body, your deep stabilizer muscles are made up of almost 100 percent slow twitch fibers. In other words, these muscles aren’t designed for short bursts of strength and power. Instead, these muscles are meant to be working at all times that you’re in motion. Therefore, unlike strength training exercises that require you to push yourself to fatigue and then rest for at least 48 hours, you can do core stabilization exercises daily. In fact, daily core stabilization exercises remind you to use your postural muscles as you sit, drive, stand, run your errands, or work at the office.
Last, but certainly not least, core exercises improve your sex life. As you tone up your pelvic floor and your deep abdominals, regain mobility in your spine, and improve control over your pelvis, your sex life gets a great boost. Shirley, as a health and wellness educator, assures you that research evidence shows that a healthy sex life is definitely good for your overall well-being. As if we need studies to tell us that.

Enjoying a Strong Core

2010-05-31T04:41:00.000-07:00

Core stabilization exercises aren’t sexy, but they’re critically important to enjoying everyday living.

Real-life benefits: A strong core supports good posture and proper joint alignment. Good posture not only makes you look and feel better but also prevents back pain. A strong core allows you to stand for long periods of time without pain or survive sitting at your desk and working at your computer for long hours.
Injury prevention: Good posture places the least amount of stress on your joints. Strong stabilizers keep your neck, shoulders, hips, and knees properly aligned to minimize wear and tear on your body. Strong stabilizers also let you use the strength in your arms and legs. For example, if you don’t have a stable shoulder joint, regardless of how strong your arms and back are, lifting items like a suitcase without hurting your shoulder may be tough.
The “Feel Good” factor: Nothing boosts your confidence like great posture and moving from the center of your being. Standing up tall; facing life straight on. That’s what it’s all about.

Toe lift

2010-05-31T04:37:00.000-07:00

If you’re prone to shin splints and ankle problems, adding the toe lift to your repertoire is a must.

Getting set
Stand with your feet as wide as your hips and your legs straight but not locked. You may hold onto a sturdy object for support. See photo A.

The exercise
Keeping your heels firmly planted into the floor, lift your toes as high as you can. Feel the tightening through the lower part of your shins. Lower your toes. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO lift only the part of your foot that’s in front of the ball of your foot.
DON’T rock back onto your heels.

Other options
Seated toe lift (easier): Do the toe lift while seated with your knees bent.
Exercise sequence (harder): Do the toe lift immediately following calf raises.
Band toe lift (harder): Do the toe lift while seated, but wrap a band around the back edges of your toes. You’ll feel resistance both when lifting your toes and when lowering them. (Don’t use the band to help lift though.)

Standing calf raise

2010-05-31T04:31:00.000-07:00

The standing calf raise hones in on your calf muscles.

Getting set
Stand on the edge of a step. (Or, if you have a step aerobics platform, place two sets of risers underneath the platform.) Stand tall with the balls of your feet firmly planted on the step and your heels hanging over the edge. Rest your hands against a wall or a sturdy object for balance. Stand tall with your abdominals pulled in. See photo A.

The exercise
Raise your heels a few inches above the edge of the step so you’re on your tiptoes. Hold the position for a moment, and then lower your heels back down. Lower your heels below the platform in order to stretch your calf muscles. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO lift as high as you can on your toes.
DO lower your heels down as much as your ankle flexibility allows.

Other options
Standing calf machine: Stand with your shoulders snugly underneath two pads and your heels handing off the edge of a platform. The standing calf machine isolates the gastrocnemius. If you want to get your soleus into the act (and you do if you do a lot of activities that involve walking, running, or jumping), look for a seated calf machine. Your knees fit underneath a platform and your heels again hang off the edge.
Add a dumbbell (harder): Holding a dumbbell in one hand adds resistance to this exercise and also forces you to balance more because you won’t be able to hold onto something with both hands.
One-leg calf raise (harder): To work one calf at a time, bend one knee behind you and raise the heel of your other foot up and down. Do the same number of repetitions with each leg.

Inner thigh lift

2010-04-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

The inner thigh lift strengthens your inner thigh muscles. Use caution if you have lower back problems.

Getting set
Roll up a bath towel (or use a step aerobics platform). Lie on your right side with your head resting on your outstretched arm. Bend your left leg and rest your knee on top of the rolled towel so that your knee is level with your hip and your top hip is directly over your bottom hip. Place your left hand on the floor in front of your chest for support. Pull your abdominals in. See photo A.

The exercise
Lift your bottom (right) leg a few inches off the floor. Pause briefly at the top of the movement, and slowly lower your leg back down. Switch sides and do the same number of repetitions with your left leg. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DON’T lift your leg more than a few inches. Stop when you feel tension in your inner thigh. How high you need to lift depends on your flexibility, your strength, and your build.
DON’T arch your back as you lift your leg.

Other options
Modified inner thigh lift (easier): Instead of placing your top knee on the towel, bend your knee and place your foot behind your bottom leg.
Inner thigh lift with a weight (harder): Wear an ankle weight while performing the inner thigh lift. If you have bad knees, drape the weight on top of your inner thigh.

Side-lying leg lift

2010-04-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

The side-lying leg lift strengthens your outer thigh muscles. Pay attention to the instructions marked by the Posture Patrol icon, particularly if you have a history of lower back pain.

Getting set
Lie on the floor on your left side with your legs a few inches in front of you, knees bent slightly, and head resting on your outstretched arm. Bend your right arm and place your palm on the floor in front of your chest for support. Align your right hip directly over your left hip and pull your abdominals in so your back isn’t arched. See photo A.

The exercise
Keeping your knee slightly bent, raise your right leg until your foot reaches shoulder height. Then slowly lower your leg back down. Switch sides and do the same number of repetitions with your left leg. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your top hip stacked directly over your bottom hip; don’t roll backward.
DO keep your head down and your neck and shoulders relaxed.
DO keep your abdominals pulled in to help your body remain still so you work only your outer thigh.
DON’T raise your foot any higher than shoulder height.

Other options

Modified leg lift (easier): Bend your top knee even more when performing the side-lying leg lift.
Leg lift with rotation (harder): When you reach the top of the movement, rotate your thigh outward by turning your knee up to the ceiling; then rotate back to the original position and lower your leg back down.
Leg lift with a weight (harder): Place an ankle weight on your ankle or, if you have knee problems, on top of your thigh.

Inner/outer thigh machine

2010-04-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

The inner/outer thigh machine sets to strengthen either your inner thigh muscles or your outer thigh muscles. Skaters, skiers, and basketball players —anyone involved in side-to-side movements — can help prevent injury by using this machine.

Getting set
Set the machine so the leg mechanisms are together and the knee and ankle pads are rotated to the outside. Sit up tall in the seat, and bend your knees so they rest against the thigh pads and the outside of your ankles rest against the ankle pads. If there’s a seat belt, wear it to help keep you from popping out of the machine. Pull your abdominals in and sit up tall. See photo A.

The exercise
Press your knees outward until you feel tension in your outer thighs. Hold the position for a moment, and then slowly allow your legs to move back together. This is the outer thigh, or abduction, exercise. To set the machine for the inner thigh, or adduction, exercise, shift the leg mechanisms so they’re comfortably spread apart, and turn the knee and ankle pads toward the inside. Position your legs so that the inside of your knees rest against the thigh pads, and the inside of your ankles rest against the ankle pads. Pull your legs together, and then slowly move them back out to a point at which you feel a comfortable stretch through your inner thighs. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO control the movement in both directions. If you hear the weight stack come crashing down, slow down.
DO change the weight between exercises if you need to. Most people use approximately the same weight for both inner and outer thigh exercises, but don’t take that for granted.
aDON’T arch your back or wiggle around in the seat in an effort to assist your legs.

Other options
Vary seat position: Some machines allow you to decline the seat back a few degrees or even all the way down so you can lie flat. Experiment with different back positions to see what’s most comfortable for you and to give the exercise a different feel.

Leg curl machine

2010-03-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

The leg curl machine does a great job of strengthening your hamstring muscles.
Use caution if you have a history of lower back discomfort.

Getting set
Set the ankle pads of the machine so that when you lie on your stomach, the underside of the pads are flush with the tops of your heels. Lie down, rest the side of your face on the support pad, and grasp the handles. Gently flex your feet. Pull your abdominals in and tuck your hips down so your hipbones press into the pad. See photo A.

The exercise
Bend your knees to lift the ankle bar until your calves are perpendicular to the floor. Then slowly straighten your legs. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your hipbones pressed against the machine and your abdominals pulled in. You may want to lift your thighs just a hair upward before you bend your knees.
DO lower your legs back down slowly so the weights you’re lifting don’t slam down against the rest of the stack.
DON’T — and this is a big don’t — allow your butt to pop off the pad. This puts stress on your lower back and minimizes the work being done by your hamstrings.
DON’T kick your heels all the way to your butt.

Other options
Other curl machines: Some machines work your hamstrings from a standing or seated position. Others have independent left and right sides so that each leg has to carry its own share of the weight. Still others have a “range limiting” device that allows you to cut off the movement at the top or bottom —a good variation if you’re experiencing any pain while doing this exercise.
Single-leg curl: Lift with both legs, straighten one out of the way, and lower the weight down with one leg only.

Kneeling leg curl

2010-03-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

The kneeling leg curl targets your hamstring muscles.
Pay extra attention to good form if you have lower back or knee troubles.

Getting set
Kneel on your elbows and knees on a mat or thick towel, with your knees directly under your hips and your elbows directly under your shoulders. Clasp your hands together or turn your palms toward the floor. Flex your right foot so it’s perpendicular to the floor. Keeping your knee bent, lift your right leg and raise your knee up to hip level. Tilt your chin slightly toward your chest and pull your abdominals in so your back doesn’t sag. See photo A.

The exercise
Straighten your leg and then bend your knee. Complete all the repetitions with one leg before switching sides. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your neck still and your shoulders relaxed.
DO move slowly so you feel the tension in the back of your thigh.
DON’T use an ankle weight for this exercise: It places too much pressure on your knee.
DON’T just throw your leg out straight and snap it back again.
DON’T raise your leg above hip height.
DON’T arch your back as you curl and uncurl your leg.

Other options
Variations (easier): To make this exercise easier, lie on the floor with your forehead resting on your forearms. Lift your thigh slightly off the floor, and then curl and uncurl. Or do this exercise while standing and holding onto the back of a chair or the back of an upright bench with your hands.
Weighted leg curl (harder): Add weight to this exercise by wrapping an ankle weight around your ankle or thigh. Or do a kneeling or standing version of the exercise with the low pulley of a cable machine that has a padded ankle strap.

Leg extension machine

2010-03-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

The leg extension machine zeroes in on your quadriceps muscles. If this exercise bothers your knees, try the modified version or choose a different exercise.

Getting set
Set the machine so your back sits comfortably against the backrest, the center of your knee is lined up with the machine’s pulley, and your shins are flush against the ankle pads. (On most machines you can move the backrest forward and back and the ankle pads up and down.) Sit down and swing your legs around so your knees are bent and the tops of your shins are resting against the underside of the ankle pads. Hold on to the handles. Sit up tall and pull your abdominals in. See photo A.
The exercise
Straighten your legs to lift the ankle bar until your knees are straight. Hold for a second at the top position, and then slowly bend your knees. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO make sure that you take the time to set the machine properly.
DO move slowly.
DON’T ram your knees at the top of the movement.
DON’T arch your back in an effort to help you lift the weight.

Other options
Modified leg extension (easier): If one leg is noticeably stronger than the other, slide one leg out of the way and do this exercise one leg at a time. You probably will need less than half the weight you use when lifting both legs together.
Single-leg extension: Many leg extension machines have a mechanism you set to limit the distance that you bend and straighten your legs. Use this device if your knees give you trouble at any point of the exercise.
Ball squeeze leg extension (harder): Place a soccer ball, weighted ball, or rolled towel between your knees. As you extend your leg, concentrate on squeezing the ball so it doesn’t slip out of place. This version of the exercise forces your quads to work harder in order to hold onto the ball.

Quad press

2010-02-27T08:33:00.000-08:00

The quad press is a particularly good quadriceps exercise for people who feel pain when they bend and straighten their knees.

Getting set
Roll up a bath towel. Sit on the floor and lean against a wall with your legs straight out in front of you. (Or bend the nonworking knee into your chest if that’s more comfortable.) Place the towel underneath the well of your right knee. See photo A.

The exercise
Squeeze your quadriceps tightly and press down on the towel. Hold for five slow counts, relax, and repeat until you complete the set. Then switch legs.
See photo B

Do’s and don’ts

DO bend your nonworking knee into your chest if that makes the exercise more comfortable.
DON’T tighten your face, hunch your shoulders, or round your back.

Other options
Modified quad press (easier): If you experience pain in your knee when you do this exercise, try squeezing your muscle for a shorter period of time. Start with one second and build up. Also try squeezing without the towel underneath your knee. Or to make the exercise tougher, replace the towel with a firmer object such as a tennis ball or filled water bottle. This replacement allows you to squeeze harder.
Straight leg raise (harder): Sit in the same position, but instead of pressing your thigh downward, lift your entire leg up and off the floor a few inches. Hold a moment and slowly lower to the start. You can also do this version of the exercise with an ankle weight wrapped around your ankle or draped across your thigh.

Kneeling butt blaster

2010-02-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

The kneeling butt blaster works your butt with some emphasis on your hamstrings, too.
Make sure that you keep your abdominals pulled in on this exercise, especially if you’re prone to lower back discomfort.

Getting set
Kneel on your elbows and knees on top of a thick towel, with your knees directly under your hips and your elbows under your shoulders. Clasp your hands together or turn your palms toward the floor. Flex your right foot so it’s perpendicular to the floor. Tilt your chin slightly toward your chest, and pull your abdominals in so your back doesn’t sag toward the floor. See photo A.

The exercise
Keeping your knee bent, lift your right leg and raise your knee to hip level. Then slowly lower your leg back down. Between repetitions, your knee almost, but not quite, touches the floor. Complete all the repetitions with one leg before switching sides. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your neck still and your shoulders relaxed.
DO move slowly.
DON’T throw your leg up in the air.
DON’T raise your knee above hip height.
DON’T arch your back as you lift your leg.

Other options
Kneeling butt blaster with weight (harder): Add an ankle weight to this exercise
or squeeze a small dumbbell in the well of your knee. We love this last option because your muscles have to work even harder to hold the weight in place.
Butt blaster machine: This machine mimics the kneeling butt blaster. You kneel with one knee on a platform, place your other foot onto a foot plate, and then press back and up. This machine is fine as long as you remember to keep your abdominals pulled in and resist arching your lower back.

Leg press machine

2010-02-27T08:22:00.001-08:00

The leg press machine covers a lot of ground, strengthening your butt, quadriceps, and hamstrings. It’s a good alternative if the squat or lunge bothers your lower back.
You may want to try the modified version if you experience pain in your hips or knees.

Getting set
Set the machine so that when you lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the foot plate, your shoulders fit snugly under the shoulder pads and your knees are bent to an inch or so below parallel to the foot plate. Place your feet as wide as your hips with your toes pointing forward and your heels directly behind your toes. Grasp the handles. Pull your abdominals in and keep your head and neck on the back pad. See photo A.

The exercise
Pressing through your heels, push against the platform until your legs are straight. Then bend your knees until your thighs are parallel with the platform and the weight plates you’re lifting are hovering just above the weight stack. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO press your heels into the foot plate instead of allowing them to lift up.
DON’T lower your thighs past parallel with the foot plate or allow your knees to shoot in front of your toes.
DON’T arch your back off the pad to help move the weight.
DON’T lock your knees when your legs are straight.

Other options
Different types of machines: You may run across several types of leg press machines. One has you sitting in an upright position, pressing your legs out straight. Another is called a 45-degree leg press: You lie in a reclining position and press up and out diagonally. Yet another version has you lie on your back and press your legs straight up. All these variations are acceptable. Just remember: Don’t bend your legs so far that your thighs are smooshed against your chest and your knees are hanging out there in Never-Never Land. Keep in mind that your foot position changes the emphasis of the exercise. The higher you place your feet on the foot platform, the more you emphasize your butt muscles.
Modified leg press (easier): If you have chronic knee problems, you can still do this exercise. Set the seat height so your thighs are a few inches above parallel — this position limits the distance you can bend your knees. However, this version focuses more on your front thigh muscles and less on your butt.
One-leg leg press (harder): Use the same form as with the basic version of this exercise with one foot lifted up and off the foot plate. After you complete your reps, switch legs.

Understanding Lunge

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The lunge is a great overall lower body exercise: It strengthens your butt, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.
If you feel pain in your hips, knees, or lower back when you do this exercise, try the split lunge version described in the “Other options” section.

Getting set
Stand with your feet as wide as your hips and your weight back a little on your heels, and place your hands on your hips. Pull your abdominals in and stand up tall with square shoulders

The exercise
Lift your right toe slightly and, leading with your heel, step your right foot forward an elongated stride’s length, as if you’re trying to step over a crack on the sidewalk. As your foot touches the floor, bend both knees until your right thigh is parallel to the floor and your left thigh is perpendicular to it. Your left heel will lift off the floor. Press off the ball of your foot and step back to the standing position. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your eyes focused ahead; when you look down, you have a tendency to fall forward.
DON’T step too far forward or you’ll have trouble balancing.
DON’T lean forward or allow your front knee to travel past your toes.

Other options
Split lunge (easier): Start with one leg a stride’s length in front of the other. Bend both knees, and lower your body so your ending position is the same as in the basic lunge. You may want to lightly grasp the back of an upright bench or a chair for support.

Lunge with weights (harder): Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms down at your sides, or place a barbell behind your neck and across your shoulders. You also can do the split lunge while holding a dumbbell in each hand or by using the Smith Machine.

Backward lunge (harder): Step your right leg back about a stride’s length behind you, and bend both knees until your left thigh is parallel to the floor and your right thigh is perpendicular to it. You’ll feel this version a bit more in your hamstrings.

Traveling lunge (harder): Perform the basic lunge, alternating legs so you travel forward with each repetition. You need a good 10 yards of space to do this. Bend your arms to 90 degrees and swing them purposefully. This variation is great for skiers, hikers, and climbers as it mimics the moves that are used in those activities.

Understanding Squat

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In addition to strengthening your butt muscles, the squat also does a good job of working your quadriceps and hamstrings. If you have hip, knee, or lower back problems, you may want to try the modified version.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand or place your hands on your hips or on the tops of your thighs, or allow them to hang comfortably down at your sides. Stand with your feet as wide as your hips and with your weight slightly back on your heels. Pull your abdominals in and stand up tall with square shoulders.
See photo A

The exercise
Sit back and down, as if you’re sitting into a chair. Lower as far as you can without leaning your upper body more than a few inches forward. Don’t lower any farther than the point at which your thighs are parallel to the floor, and don’t allow your knees to shoot out in front of your toes. When you feel your upper body fold forward over your thighs, straighten your legs and stand back up. Take care not to lock your knees at the top of the movement. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DON’T allow your knees to travel beyond your toes. We know we said this before, but it bears repeating.
DON’T look down. Your body tends to follow your eyes. So if you’re staring at the ground, you’re more likely to fall forward. Instead, keep your head up and your eyes focused on an object directly in front of you.
DON’T shift your body weight forward so your heels lift up off the floor. When you push back up to the standing position, concentrate on pushing through your heels.
DON’T arch your back as you stand back up.

Other options

Weightless squat (easier): If you have trouble balancing or completing at least eight repetitions of the squat with good form, skip the weights. Instead place your hands on your hips or the tops of your thighs as you do the exercise.

Bench squat (easier): Place the end of a bench behind you and allow your buttocks to lightly touch the top of it as you sit downward. This placement helps you guide your movement and perfect your form.

Plié squat: To add emphasis to the inner and outer thighs, place your feet out a little wider apart and angle your toes outward. Most people lower farther in this position because they feel more stable. Still, don’t travel any lower than the point at which your thighs are parallel to the floor, and don’t let your knees shoot out past your toes.

Barbell squat (harder): When you’ve mastered the squat, progress to the barbell squat for even greater challenges. Place a weighted bar in a power cage so when you stand underneath it, the bar rests gently across the top of your shoulders. Stand with your feet as wide as your hips, weight shifted slightly back on your heels, and hold on to either side of the bar with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. Pull your abdominals in and stand up tall with square shoulders.

Sit back and down, as if you’re sitting into a chair. Lower as far as you can without leaning your upper body more than a few inches forward. Don’t lower any farther than the point at which your thighs are parallel to the floor, and don’t allow your knees to shoot out in front of your toes. When you feel your upper body fold forward over your thighs, straighten your legs and stand back up.

Avoiding Mistakes When Working Your Lower Body

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Here are the most common pitfalls to watch out for when training your butt and legs:

Don’t play favorites. In other words, don’t work your butt muscles and neglect your thighs just because you want to fill out the back of your jeans. Strive for balance. If one lower body muscle group is monstrously strong compared to the others, it pulls your posture out of alignment and you may end up with an injury.
Don’t put your knees in jeopardy. Avoid locking your knees when you’re lifting a weight, and don’t allow your knees to shoot out past your toes in the squat, lunge, or leg press. If you feel knee pain during an exercise, stop immediately. Try another exercise and return to the one that gave you trouble after you’ve been training for a few weeks. Or perform a simpler version of the exercise, restricting the distance you move the weight.
Don’t perform more than 15 repetitions for any leg exercise for strength training. Some people, afraid of developing bulky legs, use extremely light weights and perform 40 repetitions. You’re not going to build much strength this way, and you’ll probably fall asleep in the middle of a set. You also increase your chance of injury from placing too much repetitive stress on your joints.

Work Out with Lower Body Muscles

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Here are some tips for working specific lower body muscle groups:

Glutes: It’s tough to isolate your butt muscles because nearly every butt exercise also involves the front and/or rear thigh muscles. However, you can maximize the emphasis on your maximus with a few simple technique tricks. For instance, when you’re doing the leg press or the squat, keep your toes pointed straight ahead as much as possible and your weight shifted slightly back onto your heels, especially as you press back up into the straight-leg position. The more weight you shift onto your toes, the more your quadriceps become involved. Also, when you stand up, squeeze your cheeks to make sure your glutes are really working and aren’t just going along for the ride.
Quadriceps: The leg extension — an exercise in which you straighten your legs from a bent position — may give you a twinge of pain in your kneecap as you near the fully extended position. In this case, stop just before your legs are straight. Many leg extension machines have a device that stops the lever of the machine from going past the point you set. The machine may also let you start from a higher position than normal if you feel pain when you’re initiating the movement.
Hamstrings: The most popular way to work the hamstrings is with a leg curl machine; you start with your legs straight and curl your heels toward your butt. You typically find this machine in three varieties: lying, seated, and standing. In this chapter we show you how to use the lying leg curl because it’s the one you see most often and the one we generally like best (although our opinions vary from brand to brand). With some leg curl machines, you lie flat on your stomach; others have a severe bend in the support pad. Our favorite variety has you lying at an angle with your hips above your head. Try all the hamstring machines available to you, and use any of the machines that feel comfortable.
Calves: When you perform the standing calf raise, experiment with the angle of your toes to find the position that’s most comfortable. But don’t angle your toes too much outward or inward or you’ll place too much stress on your knees and ankles. And perform calf exercises slowly. Bouncing your heels up and down causes your calf muscles to tighten and uses momentum to power the movement instead of maximally challenging your muscles.

Expect to feel sore and walk a little stiffly for a day or two after your first few lower body workouts. Of course, any muscle that’s new to weight training is likely to be sore after the first few sessions, but leg muscles seem particularly prone to this phenomenon. Start out with just your own body weight or light weights; otherwise, you may find yourself walking like Herman Munster or wincing in agony when you get up from the breakfast table.

Getting a Great Lower Body Workout

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In general, work your large muscles before moving on to your small ones. So perform your lower body workouts in the following order:
1. Glutes
2. Quads
3. Hamstrings
4. Inner and outer thighs
5. Calves
6. Shins

The only exception to this rule is if you specifically want to target a smaller muscle that’s lagging far behind in its strength and is creating a too noticeable weak link. If that’s the case, it’s a good idea to switch your exercise order around so you target the weakest muscle when it’s fresh. Do at least four or five lower body exercises on a regular basis for balanced muscle development and visible training results. Your workouts need to include two types of exercises:

Compound exercises, which involve several muscle groups at once
Isolation exercises, which hone in on a single muscle group

If you’re starting out with bad knees or hips, you may want to take a few weeks to simply focus on the muscles surrounding those joints. If your knees are the problem, for example, start with exercises that isolate your quads (the thigh squeeze and the leg extension machine) and your hams (the leg curl machine) and wait a few weeks before graduating to compound exercises (the squat and the lunge).

Getting a leg up on the competition

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If you’re on an aerobic mission like training for a 10K or a bike-a-thon, strong legs are even more essential. Many runners and cyclists are afraid to lift weights, figuring that they’ll develop bulky legs that’ll slow them down. But the reality, according to mounds of research, is that leg and butt exercises help you go farther and faster. The key is in maintaining a good balance between strength and endurance training. One guy we know couldn’t break the four-hour barrier in the marathon until he started doing lower body weight training exercises. His hips used to tire out at around mile 16, so he wasn’t able to stretch his legs out to their full stride, and he’d shuffle through the last 10 miles. At age 49, thanks to a regular leg routine, he was finally able to cruise through the finish line in 3 hours and 50 minutes. Even if your athletic goals aren’t as ambitious as running 26.2 miles, leg workouts are important. Say you simply want to ride your stationary bike for 30 minutes three times a week. Stronger legs help you pedal faster and harder so that you can burn more calories during that half hour.

Enjoying a Strong Lower Body

2009-11-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

According to research, the key predictor of whether you’ll need to live in an assisted living facility when you’re elderly is your leg strength. Here’s why you need to work on those glutes, quads, hams, and calves:

Real-life benefits: When you take the time to strengthen your legs, you have more stamina for waiting in line at the post office, racing through the grocery store to catch a small child, climbing office stairs when the elevator is broken, and standing on tiptoe to paint the corner of your ceiling.
Injury prevention: Strengthening your lower body muscles is a good way to preserve your hip, knee, and ankle joints — three joints that put in a lot of overtime and are particularly susceptible to injury. It’s true that many joint injuries result from torn ligaments or tendons (the connective tissue that holds your bones in place), but many of these injuries won’t occur in the first place if you have a strong army of muscles surrounding and protecting your joints. Often, lower body injuries result from a lifetime of repetitive motions such as walking up and down stairs. Weak muscles allow the bones to grind down the protective cartilage more rapidly and can’t support the proper alignment that is necessary for healthy joint function. By strengthening the muscles that surround the joints, you give them the support they need to do their job day after day. With strong lower body muscles you’re less likely to sprain your ankle by stepping off a curb because your joints have the strength to hold up even when they’re wrenched into positions they’d prefer to avoid. If you’re already at the point where you have bad knees or a “trick ankle,” it’s not too late to pump some iron with your lower body muscles.
The “Feel Good” factor: When your lower body is strong, you feel confident because you know that you can lift that heavy item, you can walk up those stairs, and you can take care of yourself. Leg strength is the leading indicator of who will end up living in nursing homes. Be strong and feel good about you.

Understanding Butt and Leg Muscle Basics

2009-11-30T06:37:00.000-08:00

You have several muscles that make up the lower portion of your body. Each muscle serves a purpose and works with the other muscles in your lower body to help you move around. Take a look at the breakdown of the muscles below your waist:

Gluteus maximus (glutes): The glutes is the granddaddy of all muscles in your body and covers your entire butt — both cheeks. The gluteus maximus straightens your legs from your hips when you stand up and propels you forward when you walk or run.
Hip flexors: The muscles opposite your gluteus maximus, located at the front of your hips. Your hip flexor muscles help you lift your leg up high so you can march in a parade or step up onto a ladder. You don’t need to spend much time working your hip flexors; they tend to be relatively stronger than the glutes in most people. When the hip flexors become disproportionately strong and tight compared to other muscles, they pull your pelvis forward and throw your hip and lower spine into an excessively arched position. This strength imbalance may contribute to poor posture and lower back pain. Keep in mind that balanced muscle development is as important as strong muscles.
Abductors: The sides, or meat, of your hips: your outer thighs. Your outer hips move your leg away from your body, like when you push off while ice-skating. The main outer hip muscle is called the gluteus medius.Adductors: The muscles that span the inside of your upper leg or inner thighs. They pull your leg in toward the center of your body or, when they’re feeling ambitious, they sweep one leg in front of and past the other, like when you kick a soccer ball off to the side.
Quadriceps (quads): The quads are located at the front of your thighs. Together these four muscles have one purpose: to straighten your leg from the knee.
Hamstrings (hams): These muscles reside directly behind your thighbone. They bend your knee, bringing your heel toward your buttocks, and help the glutes do their thing.
Gastrocnemius (gastroc): The gastroc is shaped like a diamond. The gastroc allows you to rise up on your tiptoes to see over your neighbor’s fence. Check out the calves of any competitive bicyclist, and you’ll see precisely what this muscle looks like.
Soleus: Your soleus lies directly underneath the gastroc and helps out the gastroc when your knee is bent and you need to raise your heels up, like when you’re sitting at the movies and you realize that you just stepped in gum.
Tibialis anterior: The partner to your calf muscles is your shin muscle, covering the front of your lower leg. Whenever you’re listening to music that makes you feel like tapping your toes, you can thank this muscle for allowing you to literally make this movement happen.

Roll down negative curl

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The roll down negative curl focuses on the hardest part of the crunch — the lowering phase.
Pay special attention to your form if you have lower back or neck problems.

Getting set
Sit with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor hip-width apart. Reach forward and place your hands on the outside of your thighs. Slide your shoulders down and tilt your chin slightly so there’s a few inches of space between your chin and your chest. Gently pull your abdominals inward. See photo A.

The exercise
Tuck your pelvis and slowly lower back as far as you can go and keep your feet on the ground. Hold for a moment and then curl slowly back up. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your abdominals pulled in so that you feel more tension in your abs.
DO curl as well as lift. For an explanation of curling., in which you find out common crunch mistakes.
DON’T hunch or collapse your shoulders.

Other options
Hands on chest negative curl (harder): Fold your arms across your chest,
palms down and tuck your chin in slightly. This position increases the weight of your upper body.
Hands behind head negative curl (harder): Place your hands behind your
head without lacing your fingers. This version further increases the weight of your upper body.

Bent knee side crunch

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The bent knee side crunch challenges your obliques to work together with all of your abdominal muscles.

Getting set
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet hip-width apart and flat on the floor. Drop both of your knees to one side and keep your legs stacked together. Place both hands behind your head without lacing your fingers. Place thumbs at base of skull. See photo A.

The exercise
Curl straight upward keeping your legs together and drawing your ribs toward your hips. Lower back down. Do all the repetitions on one side and then switch to the other side. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep torso rotated at the waist and legs together.
DO keep your head, neck, and shoulders relaxed.
DO move slowly and take the time to feel your abs working.
DON’T pull on your neck or touch your elbow to your knee.

Other options
Weighted bent knee side crunch (harder): Hold a lightweight plate or dumbbell
on your chest, or for an even greater challenge, hold a weight on top of or behind your head. Just don’t press the plate down too hard.

Oblique abdominal crunch

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The oblique crunch works all your abdominal muscles with an emphasis on your obliques.
Pay special attention to form if you have a history of lower back or neck discomfort.

Getting set
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet hip-width apart and flat
on the floor. Place your left hand behind your head so your thumb is behind
your left ear. Place your right arm along the floor beside you. Bring your
elbow out to the side and round it slightly inward. Tilt your chin so your chin
and your chest are a few inches apart. Pull your abdominals in. See photo A
.

The exercise
As you curl your head, neck, and shoulder blades off the floor, twist your torso to the right, bringing your left shoulder toward your right knee. (Your elbow won’t actually touch your knee.) Lower back down. Do all the repetitions on one side and then switch to the other side. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO concentrate on rotating from your middle instead of simply moving your elbows toward your knees.
DO keep both hips squarely on the ground as you twist to protect your lower back.

Other options

Legs-up crunch with a twist (harder): Lift your bent knees off the floor and cross one ankle over the other.
Straight-arm crunch with a twist (harder): Reach for your opposite knee with your arm straight rather than your elbow bent. Reach past the outside edge of your knee.

Reverse abdominal crunch

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The reverse crunch emphasizes the lower portion of your main abdominal muscles (the rectus abdominis). Use caution if you’re prone to lower back discomfort.

Getting set
Lie on your back with your legs up, knees slightly bent, and feet in air. Rest your arms on the floor and place your fingertips behind your head. Rest your head on your hands, relax your shoulders, and pull in your abdominals.

The exercise
Lift your butt one or two inches off the floor so your legs lift up and a few inches backward. Hold the position for a moment, and then lower slowly. See photo A.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your shoulders relaxed and down.
DO keep the crunch movement small and precise; you don’t have to lift very high to feel this exercise working.
DO use a minimum of leg movement.
DON’T thrust or jerk your hips.
DON’T involve your upper body at all.
DON’T cross your feet at the ankles (see photo B).
DON’T roll your hips so your buttocks and back come way off the floor. This type of movement involves your front hip muscles more than your abdominals.

Other options
Modified reverse crunch (easier): Hold onto the back edges of an exercise mat or stable object such as the underside of a couch or stuffed chair to help stabilize your upper body. Perform the reverse crunch.
One-leg reverse crunch (easier): Lift one leg at a time. Bend your other knee so your foot is flat on the floor. Avoid pushing on your foot. Use your abs to lift your hips.
Incline reverse crunch (harder): Place three risers underneath one end of a step bench and one riser underneath the other end. Lie on the step with your head at the higher end of it. Stretch your arms out behind you and hold on to the undercling of the step directly behind your head. Perform a reverse crunch by lifting your hips up. This version of the reverse crunch is more difficult because you’re working against gravity.

Basic abdominal crunch

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The basic abdominal crunch is the fundamental abdominal exercise that works all of your abdominal muscles.
Pay special attention to your form if you have lower back or neck problems.

Getting set
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor hip-width apart. Place your hands at your sides. Keep your head upright and don’t press it into your chest. Gently pull your abdominals inward. See photo A.

The exercise
Curl up and forward so your head, neck, and shoulder blades lift off the floor. Hold for a moment at the top of the movement and then lower slowly back down.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your abdominals pulled in so you feel more tension in your abs and so you don’t overarch your lower back.
DO curl as well as lift. For an explanation of curling, in which you ascertain common crunch mistakes.
DON’T pull on your legs with your hands.

Other options
Cross-arm crunch (easier): Fold your arms across your chest, palms down, and tuck your chin so it rests on your hands. This position saves you the effort of having to lift the weight of your arms. Legs-up crunch: Keeping your knees bent, pick your legs off the floor, and cross your ankles.
Weighted crunch (harder): Hold a lightweight plate on your chest, or for an even greater challenge, hold a weight on top of or behind your head. Just don’t press the plate down too hard.

Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Abdominals

2009-09-29T23:35:00.003-07:00

Mistakes are so common with abdominal exercises that the crunch has the dubious honor of qualifying for a spot in as one of the exercises most often performed incorrectly.
Here’s a close look at abdominal training no-nos:

Avoid doing neck-ups. In other words, lift from your abs, not your neck; otherwise, you’re asking for neck pain. Your head and neck shouldn’t be involved in abdominal exercises at all — they’re just along for the ride. Place your hands behind your head without lacing your fingers together, slide your shoulders down, and tilt your chin slightly so there’s about a fist’s worth of space between your chin and your chest. Your head and neck need to stay in this position throughout the exercise.
Don’t move your elbows. Your elbows have nothing to do with abdominal exercises. After you position your elbows out and slightly rounded inward, leave them there. If you pull your elbows up and in, you’ll end up pulling on your neck.
Don’t arch or flatten your back. We frequently remind you to pull your abs in, but always keep a slight gap, the width of a finger or two, between the small of your back and the floor. Avoid squeezing your buttocks and jamming your lower back into the floor.
After the lift, don’t forget the curl. The crunch involves more than simply lifting your head, neck, and shoulder blades off the floor; you also need to curl forward, as if you’re doubling over. Imagine how you’d move if you were lying on the floor and someone dropped a weight on your stomach. That’s the movement you’re aiming for here.

Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Abdominals

2009-09-29T23:35:00.002-07:00

Avoid doing neck-ups. In other words, lift from your abs, not your neck; otherwise, you’re asking for neck pain. Your head and neck shouldn’t be involved in abdominal exercises at all — they’re just along for the ride. Place your hands behind your head without lacing your fingers together, slide your shoulders down, and tilt your chin slightly so there’s about a fist’s worth of space between your chin and your chest. Your head and neck need to stay in this position throughout the exercise.
Don’t move your elbows. Your elbows have nothing to do with abdominal exercises. After you position your elbows out and slightly rounded inward, leave them there. If you pull your elbows up and in, you’ll end up pulling on your neck.
Don’t arch or flatten your back. We frequently remind you to pull your abs in, but always keep a slight gap, the width of a finger or two, between the small of your back and the floor. Avoid squeezing your buttocks and jamming your lower back into the floor.
After the lift, don’t forget the curl. The crunch involves more than simply lifting your head, neck, and shoulder blades off the floor; you also need to curl forward, as if you’re doubling over. Imagine how you’d move if you were lying on the floor and someone dropped a weight on your stomach. That’s the movement you’re aiming for here.

Myths of Abdominal Workouts

2009-08-31T00:41:00.000-07:00

To design an effective abdominal program, you need to separate the hype from the truth. Forget everything you may have found out from TV infomercials. Here we debunk the remarkably persistent myths about abdominal training.

Myth #1: Abdominal exercises get rid of the blubber around your middle
Reality: Ab exercises can’t help you “go from flab to abs,” as many infomercials claim, because flab and abs are separate entities. Abdominal exercises strengthen and tone your muscles, but these muscles lie underneath the layer of fat on top. Spot reducing through toning exercise is a fantasy. The only way to lose your belly fat is to eat less and exercise more — a strategy that reduces your overall body fat. However, even then you have no guarantee that you will lose the fat from your middle.

Myth #2: Everyone can develop washboard abs if they try hard enough
Reality: Even if you make it your life’s mission to eat a low-fat diet, spend hours a day on the StairMaster, and perform abdominal exercises to utter perfection, you still may not develop that rippled look unless your body is genetically programmed to carry almost no fat in the abdominal area. And very few of us are built that way.

Myth #3: For best results, you should do several hundred repetitions of abdominal exercises
Reality: Treat your abs like any other muscle group; in other words, perform 8 to 15 repetitions per set to fatigue for optimal strength and endurance conditioning. To focus on endurance training for the abs, do more reps — up to 24 — to fatigue. If you can do more than this, you’re either doing the exercise incorrectly or you’re performing an exercise that’s too easy for you. Either way, you’re not doing your abs much good.

Myth #4: You need to work your abs every day
Reality: Again, your abdominals are like every other muscle group. They respond best to hard work followed by a day of rest. Overtraining your abs simply invites neck and lower back problems, not to mention boredom. Strength training for your abs, however, is different from endurance training for the core.

Myth #5: The front of your stomach has two separate muscles: The upper abs and lower abs
Reality: The rectus abdominis is one long, flat, continuous sheet of muscle. Any abdominal crunch exercise works the entire muscle, although lifting your upper body off the floor emphasizes the upper portion of the rectus, and lifting your hips off the floor emphasizes the lower portion. When you do ab exercises slowly and with perfect form, you feel the entire muscle working no matter what exercise you do.

Myth #6: You need a gadget to train your abs
Reality: Although ab roller-type contraptions help novices understand the crunch movement, the floor works as well as or better than any device, and last time we checked, the floor was free. Besides, exercises such as the ones shown in this chapter are more challenging and versatile than those performed with a gadget. We’re not fond of health club abdominal machines, either. Most of them strengthen your back and hips more than they do your abs.

Myth #7: Sit-ups are better than crunches
Reality: With any sit-up-type movement, your abdominals are involved only in the first part of the motion. After your shoulders clear the floor, your hip flexor and lower back muscles take over. So there’s no point in sitting all the way up to your knees.

Enjoying Strong Abdominals

2009-08-31T00:40:00.000-07:00

Abdominal exercises won’t eliminate fat around your midsection, but abdominal exercises serve you in many other important ways.

Real-life benefits: Your abs play a crucial behind-the-scenes role in your daily life, supporting your spine in all of your movements. For instance, as you’re sitting here reading this book, you probably think your abs have very little to do. In fact, they’re the reason you sit up reasonably straight in your chair, as opposed to oozing off the edge like a blob of Jell-O. Your abs are even more important when you perform more complicated movements. Strong abs enable you to stand in line or shovel dirt in your garden for a lot longer without getting a backache.
Injury prevention: Most back pain can be reduced — perhaps even eliminated — by strengthening the abdominal muscles along with the lower back muscles and the buttocks. All of your abdominals work together to support and move your spine. The most common way people injure their back is when they combine bending with rotation, especially during lifting. Strong muscles and proper movement habits prevent this and other injuries.
The “Feel Good” factor: The notion of washboard abs creates a great deal of anxiety and insecurity among many individuals. Unless you have the genetics to not store fat above your rectus abdominus muscle, the tone of your abdominals, no matter how fit you are, will show directly under your skin. Models and celebrities often have this fat vacuumed out through liposuction to reveal the muscularity underneath or they have airbrush contour tans sprayed on to give the appearance of ‘cut’ abs. Feel good about yourself from simply knowing that you have strong abdominal muscles, regardless of whether the world can see them or not.

Abdominal Muscle Basics

2009-08-31T00:33:00.000-07:00

At this point, every household in America probably knows that the abdominal muscles are collectively referred to as the abs. Keep in mind that your abs aren’t just in front of your body but wrap around your body. This fact is important in training because many people only seem to be concerned with training what they see — the front and center — but your abs cover much more of your body.
You have four abdominal muscles:

Rectus abdominis: This is the largest abdominal muscle and runs from your breastbone to your pubic bone, a few inches below your belly button. The rectus abdominis

Curls your spine forward when performing crunches (or when you double over with laughter from watching Desperate Housewives).
Keeps your spine still when you move other parts of your body, such as when you lift a heavy box off the floor.

Obliques, internal and external: These muscles run diagonally up and down your sides. Your obliques

Help your rectus abdominis curl your spine forward.
Enable you to twist and bend to the side.
Provide lower back support.

Transversus abdominis: The transversus abdominis sits directly beneath the rectus abdominis and is the deepest of all your abdominal muscles. This muscle

Is continuously working when you’re sitting and standing.
Helps support your lower back and keep good posture.

Wrist curl and reverse wrist curl

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The wrist curl and reverse wrist curl are great for strengthening your wrist muscles.
Be careful if you’ve had wrist or elbow problems.

Wrist curl
Hold a weight in your right hand with an underhand grip, and sit on the edge of your bench with your knees as wide as your hips. Lean slightly forward, and place your entire forearm on top of your thigh so your hand hangs over the edge of your knee. Clasp your left palm over your wrist to hold it steady (see photo A). Curl your wrist up so the dumbbell moves toward your forearm, and then lower the weight back down.

Reverse wrist curl
Turn your palm down, and, again, secure your wrist in place with your other hand. Bend your wrist up to raise the dumbbell to thigh height (see photo B), and then lower the weight back down. (Hint: You may need slightly less weight to do the reverse wrist curl.)

Do’s and don’ts

DO curl straight up; try to avoid moving the weight to the side.
DON’T let your forearm lift off your thigh.

Other options

Modified wrist curl: If you have weak wrists and find this exercise difficult, simply move the weight up and down a shorter distance.
Wrist-and-finger curl (harder): At the bottom of the wrist curl, roll the weight down to the tips of your fingers and then roll it back before curling the weight up. This exercise is excellent for typists or others who use their hands a lot because it strengthens the forearms and prevents carpal tunnel syndrome.

Triceps dip machine

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The triceps dip machine targets your triceps and, to some extent, your shoulder and chest muscles.
Take special care if you have shoulder, elbow, or neck problems.

Getting set
Set the seat height so that when your arms are fully bent, your elbows are at or below chest level. Sit in the seat with your feet flat on the floor. If the machine has a seat belt, wear it to prevent you from popping up out of the seat while you do the exercise. Grasp a handle in each hand so your elbows are bent and your palms are facing in. Pull your abdominals in and sit with your back, buttocks, and shoulder blades against the back support. See photo A.

The exercise
Press the handles down until your arms are straight but your elbows remain relaxed (see photo B). Slowly bend your arms until your elbows are up near chest height.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your shoulders relaxed instead of hunching them up near your ears.
DO keep your wrists in line with your forearm instead of bending them outward.
DON’T slam your arms or lock your elbows.

Other options

Different grips: Most triceps dip machines have the option of a narrow or a wide grip. Start with the wide grip because you’re more likely to use correct form. However, when you become more proficient with this machine, the inside grip does an excellent job of isolating the triceps muscles.
Modified triceps dip machine: You can raise the seat higher to restrict the distance your arms travel. This variation is an excellent option for those with neck and shoulder problems because the raised seat keeps you from raising your arms as high and ensures that the neck and shoulders won’t be hunched and tight.
Triceps extension machine: Some gyms have a triceps extension machine rather than a triceps dip machine. The extension machine works the muscles the same way except that you start with your arms at shoulder height with your elbows resting on a pad; then you press the handles, straightening your arms out in front of you instead of downward.

Bench dip

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The bench dip is one of the few triceps exercises that strengthens other muscles, too — in this case, the shoulders and chest.
Be careful if you have wrist, elbow, or shoulder problems.

Getting set
Sit on the edge of a bench with your legs together and straight in front of you, pointing your toes upward. Keeping your elbows relaxed, straighten your arms, place your hands so you can grip the underside of the bench on either side of your hips and slide your butt just off the front of the bench so your upper body is pointing straight down (see photo A). Keep your abdominals pulled in and your head centered between your shoulders.

The exercise
Bend your elbows and lower your body in a straight line. When your upper arms are parallel to the floor, push yourself back up. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO try to keep your wrists straight rather than bent backwards.
DO keep hips and back (as you lower) as close to the bench throughout the motion.
DON’T simply thrust your hips up and down, a common mistake among beginners. Make sure that your elbows are moving.
DON’T lower yourself past the point at which your upper arms are parallel to the floor.

Other options

Bent-leg bench dip (easier): Instead of extending your legs out in front of you, bend your knees at a right angle so you’re positioned as if you’re sitting in a chair.
Feet-up bench dip (harder): Place your feet on another chair of equal height. Or, for an even tougher version, place a weight plate or dumbbell on your lap..

Triceps kickback

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The triceps kickback works your triceps. Use caution if you have elbow or lower back problems.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in your right hand, and stand next to the long side of your bench. Lean forward at the hips until your upper body is at a 45-degree angle to the floor, and place your free hand on top of the bench for support. Bend your right elbow so your upper arm is parallel to the floor, your forearm is perpendicular to the floor, and your palm faces in (see photo A). Keep your elbow close to your waist. Pull your abdominals in and relax your knees.

The exercise
Keeping your upper arm still, straighten your arm behind you until the end of the dumbbell is pointing down (see photo B). Slowly bend your arm to lower the weight. When you’ve completed the set, repeat the exercise with your left arm.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your abdominals pulled in and your knees relaxed to protect your lower back.
DON’T lock your elbow at the top of the movement; do straighten your arm but keep your elbow relaxed.
DON’T allow your upper arm to move or your shoulder to drop below waist level.

Other options
Cable triceps kickback: Put the pulley on the topmost setting and attach a horseshoe handle. Grasping the handle in one hand, position yourself in the same way described in the basic kickback, and perform the same exercise. You may have to step a foot or two away from the cable tower to prevent the cable from going slack.
Triceps kickback with a twist (harder): As you straighten your arm, twist it
so that at the top of the movement, your palm faces up.

Triceps pushdown

2009-06-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

The triceps pushdown targets your triceps. Pay special attention to your form if you have elbow problems. Standing up straight with your abdominal muscles pulled in helps you avoid lower back problems.

Getting set
Set the pulley of the cable at the topmost setting and attach a straight or Ushaped bar. Grasp the bar with your palms facing down and your hands about a thumb’s distance from the center of the bar. You can stand either with your feet parallel or with one foot slightly in front of the other. Bend your elbows so your forearms are parallel to the floor and your elbows are alongside your waist (see photo A of Figure 14-6). You can lean slightly forward at the hips, but keep your abdominals pulled in and your knees relaxed. See photo B.

The exercise
Push the bar straight down, keeping your elbows close to your sides (see photo B). Then bend your arms to allow the bar to rise slowly until your arms are slightly above parallel to the ground.

Do’s and don’ts

DO push down smoothly, exerting the same amount of pressure with both hands so both sides of the bar travel down evenly. _ DON’T lean too far forward or too heavily on the bar.
DON’T allow your elbows to splay out to the sides, especially as you push down.
DON’T let your arms fly back up as you return the bar to the starting position. Concentrate on controlling the bar.

Other options

Reverse grip pushdown (easier): Turn your hands around and use an underhanded grip. Because this version allows your biceps to assist your triceps a great deal, it’s less challenging than the basic version.

One-hand triceps pushdown: Attach the horseshoe, and grasp it with one hand in an underhand grip. (You can also use an overhand grip, although it’s tougher.) Place your other hand on your hip. Straighten your arm, pushing the handle until it’s alongside your hip. Then slowly raise the handle back up.

Rope attachment (harder): Use the rope attachment, and move your hands a few inches apart as you press the rope down. You may need to use less weight with the rope than you do with a bar.

Arm curl machine

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The arm curl machine focuses on your biceps. Be careful if you’ve had elbow injuries.

Getting set
Adjust the seat so when you sit down and extend your arms straight out,
your arms are level with your shoulders and your elbows are lined up with the moving hinge or pulley of the machine. Sit down and grasp a handle in each hand with an underhand grip. See photo A in Figure

The exercise
Bend your elbows and pull the handles until they’re just above your shoulders (see photo B ), and then slowly lower the handles back down.

Do’s and don’ts

DO make sure that you set the seat height correctly. If you set the seat too low, you’ll have trouble bending your arms and may place too much strain on your elbows.
DO sit up tall and make an effort to pull exclusively with your arms as opposed to hunching up your shoulders or leaning back.
DON’T use a chest pad to help haul the weight. If there’s a pad, use it for light support only.

Other options
Some gyms have arm curl machines that do a fair job of mimicking dumbbell work: The two sides aren’t connected so each arm has to do the work of lifting the weight. This type of machine is a good substitute or supplement for free weight work.

Concentration curl

2009-05-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

The concentration curl is especially good for targeting your biceps and excluding all other muscles.
Be careful if you’ve had elbow injuries or are prone to lower back discomfort.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in your right hand, and sit on the edge of a bench or a chair with your feet a few inches wider than your hips. Lean forward from your hips, and place your right elbow against the inside of your right thigh, just behind your knee. The weight should hang down near the inside of your ankle. Place your left palm on top of your left thigh. See photo A.

The exercise
Bend your arm and curl the dumbbell almost up to your shoulder (see photo B), and then straighten your arm to lower the weight back down.

Do’s and don’ts

DO bend forward from your hips instead of rounding your lower back to lean forward.
DON’T lean away from your arm as you lift the weight up to help get better leverage. (Hey, that’s cheating!)

Other options

Slant biceps curl: Sit on a bench with the back inclined a few inches. Lean back and curl the weight up. You can do this one hand at a time or with both hands together and with a twist as you curl upward or without a twist.
Standing concentration curl: Hold a dumbbell in one hand. Stand alongside a flat bench, lean over, and place your other hand on top of bench. Let the arm holding the weight hang straight down to the floor. Bend your elbow so the weight moves up and in toward your armpit, and then slowly lower it back down.

Dumbbell reverse biceps curl

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The dumbbell reverse biceps curl focuses on your biceps. Use caution if you have lower back or elbow problems.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip, and stand with your feet as wide as your hips. Let your arms hang down at your sides with your palms facing toward the back. See photo A. Pull your abdominals in, stand tall, and keep your knees relaxed.
The exercise
Curl your right arm close to your shoulder so your arm faces out away from your shoulder at the top of the movement. Slowly lower the dumbbell back down, and then repeat with your left arm. Continue alternating until you’ve completed the set. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your knees relaxed and your posture tall. This prevents you from swinging your body forward and back to help move the weight.
DON’T swing your elbows out wide as you bend your arm to raise the weight. Keep your elbows close to your body without supporting them on the sides of your stomach for leverage.
DON’T just let the weight fall back to the starting position. Lower it slowly and with control.

Other options

Hammer curl: Instead of beginning with palms facing back, start with palms facing in and keep your palms facing in throughout the motion. Imagine that you’re pounding nails into a board with two large hammers. This version of the exercise puts more emphasis on your forearm muscles, as well as some of the muscles that reside underneath the biceps.
Zottman curl (harder): Instead of beginning with palms facing back, begin with palms facing front with an underhand grip. As you curl your arm upward, rotate your palm in toward your body and bring it up and across to the opposite shoulder. This version of the dumbbell curl is slightly harder than the basic version.
Seated biceps curl: If you find yourself cheating too much even with light weights, try sitting on a bench or a chair.

Barbell biceps curl

2009-05-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

The barbell biceps curl targets your biceps.
Be especially careful if you have elbow problems. Whenever you add weight and bend a joint, it increases the stress to that joint. Therefore, if you have a weakened joint, you need to exercise extreme care not to overdo it and cause an injury. If you have lower back problems, you may want to choose a seated biceps exercise instead.

Getting set
Hold a barbell with an underhand grip and your hands about shoulder-width apart. Stand with your feet as wide as your hips, and let your arms hang down so the bar is in front of your thighs (see photo A of Figure 14-2). Stand up tall with your abdominals pulled in and knees relaxed.

The exercise
Bend your arms to curl the bar almost up to your shoulders , and then slowly lower the bar almost to the starting position.
Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your knees relaxed. This protects your lower back.
DON’T rock back and forth or lean way back to lift the weight. If you need to do that, you should be arrested for using too much weight.
DON’T just straighten your arms and let the bar drop down to your thighs like a sack of rocks. Instead, lower the bar slowly to get the most muscle power from the exercise and to protect your elbows. And don’t lower the bar all the way back down because you lose tension on the muscle.

Other options

Reverse-grip biceps curl (harder): Do the basic version of the barbell biceps curl holding the bar with an overhand grip. You feel this exercise more in your wrists. (Hint: Use a lighter weight for this version.)
Cable biceps curl: Place the cable on the setting closest to the floor and attach a short or long straight bar. Hold the bar with an underhand grip and stand about a foot away from the cable tower. Curl the weight up and down exactly as in the basic version of the barbell biceps curl.
Double biceps curl: Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing up, elbows resting lightly against your sides, and arms hanging down. Curl the dumbbells up and down together as if they were a barbell.

Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Arms

2009-04-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

Some people use such herky-jerky form when they perform arm exercises that they look like people dancing under a strobe light. Keep the following tips in mind when training your arms:

Don’t cheat. If you contort your whole body to lift the weight, you work your whole body, not your arms. Rocking back and forth is also a great way to throw out your lower back. Think about how you’ll feel explaining to your friends that you wrenched your back while exercising your arms.
Don’t skip your wrists. Few people pine away for forearms the size of Popeye’s.
Go easy on the elbows. Exercise captions throughout this chapter tell you to straighten your arms. This, however, doesn’t mean snapping your elbows into a fully straightened position.
Keep your elbows still. When your elbows veer out to the side during many biceps and triceps exercises, you’re able to lift more weight. However, this is only because you have more leverage; your arms aren’t getting any stronger. When you’re doing biceps exercises such as the dumbbell reverse biceps curl, you may also have a tendency to pull your arms and elbows forward to lift the weight. You can’t avoid this extra movement completely, but keep it to a minimum.

Enjoying Strong Arms

2009-04-29T05:20:00.000-07:00

Because we use our arms so often in daily life, we tend to take our arm muscles for granted. However, giving these muscles extra attention in the weight room really does pay off.

Attaining real-life benefits: Your arms are the link between your upper body and the rest of the world. If your arms are weak, your larger, upper body muscles can’t work to full capacity. You’re only as strong as your weakest link. For example, the lat pulldown, a back exercise, mainly requires back strength, but weak biceps limit your ability to do this exercise. With stronger triceps, you can more effectively challenge your chest muscles in exercises such as the push-up or the bench press. Strong wrists are crucial for many weight lifting exercises and for activities outside of the gym: gripping a golf club, shelling peanuts, shuffling cards, or working at your computer keyboard without pain.
Preventing injury: Strong arms help protect your elbows from harm. Carry around a heavy briefcase with a straight arm long enough and eventually your elbow starts to ache. With stronger arm muscles, you can haul that briefcase around longer without pain, and you’re less likely to get tennis elbow, which is inflammation of the elbow joint. Powerful arms also minimize your chances of soreness or injuries when you perform weight lifting exercises or when you lift a dumbbell, barbell, or weight plate off of a rack. Strong wrists, in particular, help you avoid carpal tunnel syndrome. Repetitive movements such as typing, scanning items at the grocery checkout, or operating the mouse of your computer can cause this painful and sometimes debilitating condition.
The confidence factor: The feel-good factor: We tend to equate toned biceps with masculine strength. Popeye’s biceps are almost the size of his head. In women, the jury is still out. Popular opinion can’t come to a consensus on whether it prefers women with toned arms or weak arms. The bottom line is that strong arms help you to enjoy life better and toned muscles look healthy. Society’s judgment about whether men and women should have big or small muscles is likely to change with the winds of fashion, but being healthy and strong and feeling great are always positive.

Understanding Arm Muscle Basics

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Your biceps muscle spans the front of your upper arm. Hang out in any gym and you’ll see people flexing these muscles in the mirror, usually when they think that nobody’s watching. The main job of your biceps (nicknamed your is or your guns) is to bend your arm; in gymspeak, this motion is called curling or flexing.
Your triceps, located directly opposite your biceps, spans the rear of your upper arm. The biceps and triceps, like many muscle groups, work together in pairs. When you squeeze your biceps, your triceps relaxes and your arm bends, and when you squeeze your triceps, your biceps relaxes and your arm straightens. Maintaining a good balance of strength in the relationship between the two muscles is important so that one muscle doesn’t dominate the other. That’s why you need to train both.
Another group of arm muscles allows your wrists to move in a variety of ways. To spare you some jargon, we’re going to refer to these as your wrist muscles. These muscles let you bend your wrist up, arch it down, twirl it in a circle, tilt it left and right, and turn your palm up or down. One of the most important jobs of the wrist muscles is to keep the wrist stable and the wrist joint flat or neutral. If your wrists are weak, the wrist muscles can bend at inopportune times (like when you’re holding a 100-pound barbell over your chest). Weak wrists also mean that you can’t get a grip — on a baseball bat, a stubborn weed, or a can of mushroom soup — and leave you prone to conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome, an inflammation of your wrist nerves.

Shoulder press machine

2009-03-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

The shoulder press machine is a good overall shoulder exercise because it challenges all of your shoulder muscles. It also works your triceps and upper back.
Take extra caution if you’re prone to neck, elbow, or lower back problems.

Getting set
Set your seat height so the machine’s pulley is even with the middle of your shoulder. Hold on to each of the front handles. (Your palms face each other.) Pull your abdominals in tight but leave a slight, natural gap between the small of your back and the seat pad. See photo A.

The exercise
Press the handles up without locking your elbows. Lower your arms until your elbows are slightly lower than your shoulders. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO relax your shoulders and keep them well below your ears, especially while your arms are straightened fully.
DON’T arch your back or wiggle around in an effort to lift the weight.
DON’T thrust upward with more force than necessary; this strain puts a lot of stress on your elbows.

Other options
Many shoulder machines have arms that work “independently” of each other. That is, the left and right sides aren’t connected, so each arm handles its own share of the load. If your gym has this option, we recommend that you give it a try. You’ll get the structure and support that a machine has to offer but also develop balance and uniform strength as you would with free weights.

Internal rotation

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Internal rotation also targets your rotator cuff muscles and works your shoulder muscles.
Again, if these movements bother your neck, try resting your head on your outstretched arm.

Getting set
For internal rotation repetitions, switch the weight to your left hand and lie on your back. Bend your elbow so your forearm is perpendicular to the floor and your palm is facing inward.

The exercise
Lower your hand down to the floor as much as your flexibility permits, and then lift back up. Complete an equal number of repetitions with each arm. Figure 13-7 illustrates the internal rotation.

Do’s and don’ts

DO imagine that your shoulder is the hinge of a door that’s opening and closing.
DO perform the exercise gently and smoothly.
DON’T tighten up your neck and face.
DON’T throw the weight up.
DON’T force the weight farther than your natural flexibility allows.

Other options
Traffic cop (harder): Hold a weight in both hands and stand with your feet as wide as your hips. Bend your elbows and raise your arms up to shoulder height (in the classic stick-em-up position). Keeping your elbows still, rotate your forearms down until your palms are facing behind you and then rotate back up to the start.

External rotation

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External rotation focuses on your rotator cuff muscles, but these exercises also work your shoulder muscles.
If these movements bother your neck, try resting your head on your outstretched arm.

Getting set
Holding a dumbbell in your right hand, lie on the floor on your left side. Bend your right elbow to a 90-degree angle and tuck it firmly against your side so your palm faces downward. Pull your abdominals in. Bend your left elbow and rest the side of your head in your left hand or lie on your outstretched left arm.

The exercise
Keeping your right elbow glued to your side, raise your right hand as far as you comfortably can (the distance depends on your flexibility). Slowly lower the weight back toward the floor. Complete an equal number of repetitions with each arm. Figure shows the external rotation.

Do’s and don’ts

DO imagine that your shoulder is the hinge of a door that’s opening and closing.
DO perform the exercise gently and smoothly.
DON’T tighten up your neck and face.
DON’T throw the weight up.
DON’T force the weight farther than your natural flexibility allows.

Back delt fly

2009-02-27T03:48:00.000-08:00

The back delt fly is an excellent move for strengthening the back of the shoulders and upper back and for improving your posture.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on the edge of a bench. Lean forward from your hips so your upper back is flat and above parallel to the floor (if you can, support your chest against your knees). Let your arms hang down so your palms are facing each other with the weights behind your calves and directly under your knees. Pull your chin back and in and draw your abdominals inward. See photo A.

The exercise
Raise your arms up and out to the sides, bending your elbows a few inches as you go until your elbows are level with your shoulders. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lift. Slowly lower your arms back down. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your chin tilted slightly toward your chest throughout the motion so your head and neck don’t drop forward.
DO lean forward from your hips instead of rounding your back.
DON’T allow the rest of your body to move as you do the exercise.

Other options

Back delt row: Use the same starting position except orient your palms backward. As you lift the weights, you need to bend your elbows more than in the basic version.
Cable back delt fly: If you have a history of neck pain, try the cable back delt fly version. Set the cable on the setting closest to the floor; hook up a horseshoe handle. Kneel alongside the cable tower and grasp the handle in the hand that’s farthest away from the tower. (The cable passes underneath your body.) Squeeze your shoulder blade and lift your arm up to the side, as in the basic version. Do the same number of reps with each arm.
Standing back delt fly: Do the same exercise while standing with your feet placed as wide as your hips. Lean forward so that your torso forms a 45-degree angle with the floor. Keep your abs pulled in to protect your lower back and resist any rocking movement.

Front raise

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The front raise isolates the front portion of your shoulder muscles. Use caution if you have a history of lower back or neck discomfort.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand up tall with your feet as wide as your hips. Let your arms hang down at your sides — elbows relaxed and palms facing back. Stand up tall, pull your abdominals in, and relax your knees. See photo A.

The exercise
Raise your right arm up to shoulder height and then lower it back down. Then do the same with your left arm. Continue alternating until you complete the set. Or, for more of a challenge, do all your reps with one arm and then the other. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your elbows slightly bent as you perform the exercise.
DON’T arch, lean back, or wiggle around in an effort to lift the weight.
DON’T lift your arm above shoulder height.

Other options

Palms-up front raise: Turn your palm up and do the exercise exactly as it’s described in the basic front raise. Try this version if you’re prone to shoulder or rotator cuff injuries.
Diagonal front raise (harder): When the dumbbell is at shoulder height, move your arm a few inches in until the weight is in front of the top of your chest. Skip this version if you have chronic shoulder problems.
Seated front raise (harder): Perform the front raise sitting on a bench with a back support; this position removes any possibility of cheating!
Lying front raise (harder): Lie on your stomach on a bench holding a dumbbell in each hand, arms straight in front of you (or slightly out to the side), palms facing in and thumbs up. Raise the dumbbells as high as you comfortably can but no higher than shoulder level. You’ll have to use a much lighter weight for this version of the exercise. You can also incline the bench and do the same exercise.

Lateral raise

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The lateral raise works the center of your shoulder muscles. Make sure that you use stellar technique if you have neck or lower back problems.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand up tall with your feet as wide as your hips. Bend your elbows a little, turn your palms toward each other, and bring the dumbbells together in front of the tops of your thighs. Pull your abdominals in. See photo A .

The exercise
Lift your arms up and out to the side until the dumbbells are just below shoulder height. Slowly lower the weights back down. It may help to imagine that you’re pouring two pitchers of lemonade on the floor in front of you. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO lift from the shoulders; in other words, keep your elbows stationary.
DON’T arch your back, lean backward, or rock back and forth to lift the weights.
DON’T raise the weights above shoulder height.

Other options
Bent-arm lateral raise (easier): Start with your arms bent at a 90-degree angle, palms facing each other, and the dumbbells in front of your body. Keeping your elbows bent at 90 degrees throughout the motion, lift the weights until your elbows are at shoulder height. The bent-arm lateral raise exercise doesn’t give your shoulders quite as good a workout as the basic version, but if you have weak shoulders or a history of shoulder problems, you can do this modified version of the lateral raise exercise.
Seated lateral raise: For a change of pace, perform the lateral raise exercise sitting on a bench, starting with your arms hanging straight down at your sides, elbows slightly bent.
Thumbs-up lateral raise (easier): Do this movement with your palms facing forward and your thumbs pointing upward. This version places the least stress on your rotator cuff muscles and is often used in physical therapy.

Dumbbell shoulder press

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The dumbbell shoulder press targets the top and center of your shoulder muscles. This exercise also works your upper back and triceps. Use caution if you have lower back, neck, or elbow problems.

Getting set
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on a bench with back support. Plant your feet firmly on the floor about hip-width apart. Bend your elbows and raise your upper arms to shoulder height so the dumbbells are at ear level. Pull your abdominals in so there’s a slight gap between the small of your back and the bench. Place the back of your head against the pad. See photo A.

The exercise
Push the dumbbells up and in until the ends of the dumbbells are nearly touching directly over your head and then lower the dumbbells back to ear level. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your elbows relaxed at the top instead of locking them.
DO stop lowering the dumbbells when your elbows are at or slightly below shoulder level.
DON’T let your back arch a great degree off the back support.
DON’T wiggle or squirm around in an effort to press the weights up.

Other options
Palms-in dumbbell press (easier): Do this exercise with your palms facing each other. This position allows your wrists and biceps muscles to help execute the movement.

Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Shoulders

2009-01-29T09:29:00.000-08:00

For many avid weight lifters, shoulder injuries don’t happen overnight. We know countless people who’ve lifted for years, sometimes ignoring minor shoulder pain, and then — pop! — they’re finished. Kaput. But what they perceive as a sudden injury is actually the result of years of overuse and poor form. Avoid the common mistakes to keep your shoulders strong and healthy.

Exaggerating the movement
If the instructions say lift the dumbbell “to shoulder height,” don’t lift the weight up to the ceiling, because lifting your arm to this unnatural angle adds undue stress to the joint with little advantage for increasing muscle tone. In other words, the risk of injury from lifting higher outweighs any minimal benefit of getting slightly stronger by increasing the size of the movement.

Arching your back
When you perform shoulder exercises while sitting on a vertical bench, make sure that you only have a slight gap between the small of your back and the backrest. Yes, arching your back gives you more leverage to lift heavier weights, but arching also cheats the muscles that you’re targeting and puts your lower back in a vulnerable position — causing injury.

Rocking back and forth
When you perform shoulder exercises while standing, relax your knees and maintain a tall posture. Many people lock their knees and lean back, a posture that your lower back muscles don’t appreciate. If you’re moving any body parts other than your arms, you aren’t targeting your shoulder muscles, and you’re using too much weight.

Performing behind-the-neck shoulder exercises
You’re likely to see lifters press a barbell overhead and then lower it behind the neck rather than in front. Some shoulder machines also involve behindthe-neck movements. Stay away from these exercises! They require a severe backward rotation of your arm, placing your shoulder and rotator cuff muscles in a weakened and precarious position. The movement also compresses the top of your arm bone into your shoulder socket, which tends to grind the bones and place your rotators under a great deal of additional stress. Always keep in mind that the benefit of any exercise should outweigh the risk. Suzanne, who knows better than to perform these exercises, nevertheless did a set of behind-the-neck shoulder presses while training for a weight lifting competition. The next day she couldn’t reach her left arm backward without wincing in agony — nor could she press a measly 5-pound dumbbell overhead without severe pain. Only after seven months of rest and rehab exercises did her rotator cuff injury begin to heal. Suzanne learned her lesson the hard way and now cringes when she sees people at her gym performing the very exercise that ruined her workouts for months.

Getting a Great Shoulder Workout

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You can strengthen your shoulder muscles in through four main types of shoulder movements (although dozen of ways exist). Perform the following exercises in the order that they’re listed. In general, you lift the heaviest weights while pressing and the lightest weights while doing back fly movements.

Press: Straighten your arms up over your head. Shoulder-press exercises work the entire shoulder muscle.
Lateral raise: Raise your arms from your sides out to shoulder level. Lateral raises focus on the top and outside portions of the muscle.
Front raise: Raise your arms from your sides directly in front of you. Front raises work the front and top of the deltoid.
Back fly: Bend over from the hips as far as your flexibility permits to align your lift against the pull of gravity. Your chest should be as close to parallel to the ground as possible. Raise your arms out to the sides, working the rear and outside portions of the muscle.

From time to time, vary the order of your exercises to target your weaker muscles first and to provide a variety of stimulation for the muscle group to optimize conditioning. You needn’t include all four types of exercises in each shoulder workout, but you should aim to perform each type on a regular basis so you develop evenly balanced shoulder muscles. (Later in this chapter, you find out several variations of each exercise, as well as a few other shoulder movements that don’t fall into these categories.) Perform shoulder exercises with free weights rather than machines. Often, the motion feels unnatural with the machine and places excess strain on the neck. For people of diverse sizes, such as petite women, aligning the machine properly can be hard, especially on a machine that’s designed for a larger man’s body.

Enjoying Strong Shoulders

2009-01-13T20:01:00.000-08:00

Your shoulders do a fair amount of work whenever you perform back and chest exercises, but performing exercises that single out your delts are also important for the following reasons:

Real-life benefits: Strong shoulders make most arm movements easier, whether you’re beaning your brother with a snowball, passing the potatoes across the table, or lifting your “a little too heavy” suitcase. Virtually every upper body exercise involves your shoulder muscles to some extent, so strengthening your shoulders enables you to lift heavier weights on chest and back exercises.
Injury prevention: If your shoulders are weak, they’re going to take a beating even if you perform chest and back exercises perfectly. Shoulder exercises also can prevent weekend-warrior type injuries, such as shoulder tears from swinging a sledgehammer, a torn rotator cuff from a softball tournament, or slapping a puck into the garbage can that serves as your hockey goal. If your shoulders are weak, you can even injure yourself while opening a dresser drawer.
Self-confidence factor: Open up any bodybuilding magazine and you see headlines such as, “Grow Those Big Caps Even Bigger” or “Delts to Die For.” Bodybuilders take their shoulder training seriously because they know that these muscles play a big part in their appearance, which, after all, is what bodybuilding is all about. Even if you don’t want to build competition-level delts, you can still develop toned, shapely shoulders and reclaim your confidence to wear sleeveless shirts. (Although you should wear sleeveless shirts any time that you please. But a toned shoulder muscle may put a little pep in your sleeveless step.)

Understanding Shoulder Muscle Basics

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Your shoulder muscles, officially, are called the deltoids or delts. These muscles rest like a cap on top of the shoulder (the best way to see this is to hold your arm out horizontally). The delts are made up of three sections:

Center: The top or medial deltoid is on top of the shoulder. When this muscle contracts, you can lift up your arm.
Front: The front or anterior deltoid lies in front. When it contracts, your arm moves inward toward the center front.
Back: When the posterior deltoid in the back contracts, your arm moves back to the midline and can even move slightly farther back.

Your shoulder is able to move in so many directions because your shoulder joint is a ball-and-socket joint: The round head of your arm bone snaps neatly into your shoulder socket. Your hip is another ball-and-socket joint, but even that joint doesn’t have the mobility that your shoulder does. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that keep your arm from slipping out of its socket. They lie underneath your delts, performing their job in complete anonymity.

Unfortunately, the rotator cuff muscles are so anonymous that many people don’t even know that these muscles exist and, therefore, don’t bother to train them. The only time they seem to get any recognition is when a professional baseball pitcher is sidelined for the season by a rotator cuff injury. Your rotator cuff muscles stabilize your shoulder joint and enable you to twist your arm while your elbow is straight, such as when you turn your palm to face forward and then backward. They also get into the act during throwing and catching motions and when you raise your arms above your head.

Assisted dip

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The assisted dip primarily works your chest muscles with a lot of emphasis on your shoulders and triceps, too.
Use caution if you have elbow, shoulder, or lower back problems.

Getting set
For this exercise, deciding which plate to put the pin in can be confusing because you follow the exact opposite rule of every other exercise. In this case, you choose more plates if you want the exercise to be easier and fewer plates if you want the exercise to be harder. The more plates you select, the more your weight is counterbalanced during the exercise. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds and you place the pin in the plate marked 100, you have to lift only 50 pounds of your body weight. But if you put the pin into the plate marked 50, you have to lift 100 pounds.
After you’ve set your weight, step onto the platform of the assisted dip machine, and then carefully kneel on the kneepad or step on the foot bar as required by the machine at your gym. Grip the lower bars with your palms facing inward and straighten your arms. Pull your abdominals in and keep your body tall. See photo A.

The exercise
Lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor and then push back up. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO relax your shoulders so they don’t hunch up by your ears.
DO keep your abdominals pulled in so your back doesn’t arch.
DO keep your neck aligned with the rest of your spine instead of allowing your chin to jut forward.
DON’T explode back to the start and snap your elbows.
DON’T lower your body farther than the point at which your upper arms are parallel to the floor.

Other options

Traditional dip (harder): Stand facing a dip station, and place your hands on the dip bars. Hop up so your feet are off the floor. Straighten your arms and lift your body upward. Keep your legs straight, or bend your knees slightly and cross one ankle over the other. Remain tall and relaxed with your abdominals pulled inward. Bend your elbows and lower your body only until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Straighten your arms to lift yourself back up.
Negative-only dip (easier): If you find a traditional dip too difficult, perform only the negative phase: Use your muscle power to lower yourself and then jump up to the start after every repetition. However, when you jump up, take it easy on your elbows.
Weighted dip (harder): Do the basic version of the exercise with a special waist belt designed to hold a weight plate on the end of it.

Cable crossover

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The cable crossover strengthens your chest muscles with emphasis on the shoulders as well.
Be careful if you have shoulder, elbow, or lower back problems.

Getting set
Set the pulleys on both towers of a cable machine to the top position. Clip a horseshoe handle to each pulley. Stand between the towers with your legs comfortably apart and with one foot slightly in front of the other. Grasp a handle in each hand, palms facing down and slightly forward. Tighten your abdominals, lean slightly forward from your hips, and relax your knees. See photo A.

The exercise
Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, pull the handles down so one wrist crosses slightly in front of the other. Then slowly raise your arms up and out to the sides until your hands are level with your shoulders. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO exhale deeply before bringing your hands together.
DO initiate the move from your chest; in other words, keep your shoulders, elbows, and wrists in the same position throughout.
DON’T forget that slight forward lean: It takes the pressure off your lower back.

Other options

Flat bench cable fly: Set the cables to the lowest point on the towers, and place a flat bench in the center of the towers. Grasp a handle in each hand and lie on your back. Straighten your arms up directly over your shoulders and then spread your arms down and to the side until your elbows are just below shoulder level. This motion is the same one used in the flat bench dumbbell chest fly.
One-hand crossover: Do the basic cable crossover one arm at a time. Place the unused hand on your hip or hold onto the cable tower.

Vertical chest press machine

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The vertical chest press machine focuses on your chest muscles, with additional emphasis on your triceps and shoulders. Most vertical chest machines have more than one grip so that you can work your chest muscles in different ways.
Use caution if you have shoulder or elbow problems.

Getting set
Sit in the machine so the center of your chest lines up with the set of horizontal handlebars. Press down on the foot bar so that the handles move forward. Grip the horizontal handles. Straighten your arms, pushing the handles forward.
Keep your abdominals tight so your upper back remains on the pad.
See photo A.

The exercise
Remove your feet from the foot bar — you’ll feel the weight of the stack transfer into your hands. Slowly bend your arms until your hands are just in front of your chest, and then push the handles forward until your arms are straight. When you’ve completed your set, put your feet back on the foot bar and let go of the handlebars before you lower the weight stack all the way down. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your neck against the backrest.
DON’T press so quickly that your elbows snap shut and your shoulders come up off the backrest.

Other options
Different angles: You may find chest machines that position you horizontally and at many angles between horizontal and vertical. Other machines work the left and right sides independently of each other; in other words, the left and right levers of the machine aren’t connected to one another, so when you raise the weight, both sides of your body have to fend for themselves. Machines with independent action are a good alternative for those with leftright muscle imbalances or those who want to combine the safety of using a machine with the feel of using free weights. Try them all for variety to challenge your chest muscles differently.
Vertical grip (harder): Use the vertical handle of your chest machine. This grip factors out a lot of the help you get from your shoulders when using the horizontal grip.

Incline chest fly

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The incline chest fly principally exercises your chest muscles, with plenty of focus on your shoulder muscles. The work also puts few focus on your triceps, though less than a lot of other chest works out. Give extra attention to your form if you have had shoulder (especially rotator cuff), elbow, or lower back injuries.

Getting set
Incline the bench a few inches. Set the incline at 1-5 inches on the bench, depending on the bench. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, lie on the bench with your feet flat on the floor or on the bench, whichever feels more comfortable to you. Press the weights directly above your chest, palms facing each other. Tuck your chin to your chest to align your neck with the rest of your spine and maintain your natural back posture, neither arched nor flattened. See photo A.

The exercise
Spreading your arms apart so that your elbows travel down and to the sides, lower the weights until your elbows are just below your shoulders. Maintain a constant bend in your elbows as you lift the dumbbells back up. Imagine that you have a barrel lying on your chest, and you have to keep your arms wide to reach around it. See photo B in Figure.

Do’s and don’ts

DO feel a stretch in the outer edges of your chest. Hold a moment in the lowered position to feel it even more.
DON’T forget to keep the bend in your elbows as you lower the weights. If your arms are too straight, you place excessive pressure on your elbows and shoulder joints.
DON’T move your elbows any lower than specified or you risk damaging your shoulder and rotator cuff muscles.

Other options

Flat chest fly: Do the same exercise on a flat bench. The incline version emphasizes upper chest fibers, while the flat version calls in the middle and lower fibers as well.
Decline chest fly: Do this exercise on a decline bench, with your head lower than your feet. The hardest thing about this version is picking up and releasing the weights. Grab the weights while you’re sitting up, hold them against your chest, and ease yourself into the decline position. When you’re done with the exercise, gently ease the dumbbells off to either side to the floor. (Don’t just drop them.) Better yet, ask someone to hand the weights to you at the start of the exercise and take them away when you’re done.

Dumbbell chest press

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The dumbbell chest press closely mimics the bench press. This exercise works your chest muscles, along with your shoulders and triceps. You may want to modify or avoid this exercise if you have shoulder, elbow, or lower back problems.

Getting set
Lie on the bench with a dumbbell in each hand and your feet flat on the floor (or up on the bench if it’s more comfortable). Push the dumbbells up so your arms are directly over your shoulders and your palms face forward. Pull your abdominals in, but don’t jam your back into the bench; don’t let it arch way up, either. Tilt your chin toward your chest. See photo A. Lower the dumbbells down and a little to the side until your elbows are slightly below your shoulders. Push the weights back up, taking care not to lock your elbows or allow your shoulder blades to rise off the bench. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO allow your lower back to keep its natural arch so you have a slight gap between your lower back and the bench.
DON’T contort your body in an effort to lift the weight; lift only as much weight as you can handle while maintaining good form.

Other options
Partial dumbbell press (easier): Lower the weights only about three quarters the distance of the basic version of this exercise. Try this version if you have elbow, shoulder, or rotator cuff problems.

Incline chest press: Perform this exercise on an incline bench, and you use less weight than when you perform a flat-bench press. You’ll challenge the upper fibers of the pecs more.

Decline chest press: Do this exercise on a decline bench, with your head lower than your feet. The hardest part of this version is picking up and releasing the weights. Grab the weights while you’re sitting up, hold them against your chest, and ease yourself into the decline position. When you’re done with the exercise, gently ease the dumbbells off to either side to the floor. (Don’t just drop them.) Better yet, ask someone to hand the weights to you at the start of the exercise and take them away when you’re done.

Bench press

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The bench press, crowned the king of all chest exercises by bodybuilders, primarily works your chest muscles, with plenty of emphasis on your shoulders and triceps, too.
You may want to try a modified version of this exercise — or avoid it altogether — if you have lower back, shoulder, or elbow problems.

Getting set
Lie on the bench with your feet flat on the floor or up on the bench if the bench is too tall. Grip the bar so your arms are evenly spaced a few inches wider than shoulder-width apart. Your upper arms should be slightly above parallel to the floor. Tuck your chin toward your chest and pull your abdominals in tight, but don’t force your back into the pad, or overarch it. Lift the bar off the rack and push it directly up over your shoulders, straightening your arms without locking your elbows. See photo A.

The exercise
Lower the bar until your elbows are slightly below your shoulders. The bar may or may not touch your chest — this depends on how long your arms are and how big your chest is. Press the bar back up. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO remember to breathe. Exhale as you press the bar up, and inhale as you lower it.
DON’T cheat. In other words, if you have to wiggle around or arch your back in order to hoist the bar, you’re not doing much for your chest, but you’re asking for lower back injuries.
DON’T press the bar up too high; keep your elbows relaxed and your shoulder blades on the backrest throughout the exercise.

Other options
Towel chest press (easier): Roll up a large bath towel and place it across your chest. Lower the bar until it touches the towel and then press back up. This variation is good if you have shoulder problems because it reduces the range of motion and lessens the stress on the shoulder joint.

Incline bench press: Incline the bench a few inches and then do the exercise as described above. This version emphasizes the upper fibers of your pecs and shoulders.

Decline bench press: Do this exercise on a decline bench, with your head lower than your feet. This requires a special decline version of the bench press station. Some bench press stations can set flat, incline, or decline, whereas others are fixed permanently in the decline position

Modified push-up

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The modified push-up strengthens your chest muscles, with additional emphasis on your shoulders and triceps.
Be extra careful if you have lower back, shoulder, elbow, or wrist problems.

Getting set
Lie on your stomach, and bend your knees. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor a bit to the side and in front of your shoulders. Straighten your arms and lift your body so that you’re balanced on your palms and the part of your thighs just above your knees. Tuck your chin a few inches toward your chest so that your forehead faces the floor. Tighten your abdominals. See photo A. Don’t cross your ankles like in photos C and D. Use your inner thigh muscles to keep your legs parallel.

The exercise
Bend your elbows and lower your entire body at once. Instead of trying to touch your chest to the floor, lower only until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Push back up. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your abdominal muscles pulled in tight throughout the exercise so that your back doesn’t arch like a swaybacked horse; otherwise, you’re begging for a lower back injury.
DO bring your arms to a full extension.
DON’T lock your elbows at the top of the arm extension.
DON’T do the dreaded head bob. That’s when you dip your head toward the floor without moving any other part of your body. Talk about a giant pain in the neck!

Other options
Wall push-up (easier): Stand a few feet away from a wall and place your palms flat on the wall slightly wider than your shoulders. Bend your elbows and lean into the wall. Then press yourself away from the wall by straightening your arms.
Incline push-up: This version is easier than the modified push-up but harder than the wall push-up. Follow the same setup as the basic version of this exercise, but place your hands on top of a step bench that has two or three sets of risers underneath.

Military push-up (harder): Lie facedown with your legs straight out behind you. Bend your elbows and place your palms on the floor a bit to the side and in front of your shoulders. Straighten your arms and lift your body so you’re balanced on your palms and the underside of your toes. Tuck your chin a few inches toward your chest so your forehead faces the floor. Tighten your abdominals. Bend your elbows and lower your entire body at once. Instead of trying to touch your chest to the floor, lower only until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Push back up.

Negative push-up (easier): This version is harder than the modified push-up but easier than the military push-up. Only perform the lowering phase of the military push-up. Slow the movement down and try to lower yourself in five counts. Lower your knees to the ground and follow the modified version when you push yourself up.

Avoiding Mistakes When Pumping Your Pecs

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One morning Liz was working at a gym when a member came up and casually mentioned that another member needed help on the bench press. Liz strolled over to find this man trapped underneath a bar that apparently had been too heavy for his chest muscles to handle. “Caesar,” she asked, “how long have you been there?”
“About 20 minutes,” he replied.
Why hadn’t he yelled for help? He was too embarrassed. The moral of the story: Safety is more important than lifting heavy weights. In addition to lifting the proper amount of weight, take the following precautions when working your chest:

Don’t lock your elbows. In other words, don’t straighten your arms to the point that your elbows snap. This arm extension puts too much pressure on the elbow joints and leads to tendonitis or inflammation of the elbow joint itself. When you straighten your arms, keep your elbows slightly relaxed.
Don’t arch your back. In an effort to hoist more poundage, some people arch their backs so severely that there’s enough room between their back and the bench for a Range Rover to drive through. Sooner or later, this position causes a back injury. Plus, you’re doing nothing to strengthen your chest muscles. Instead, you’re overstraining your lower back.
Don’t flatten your back. In a sincere effort not to cheat, many people do the exact opposite of overarching their backs — they force their lower backs into the bench. This posture is equally bad for your back. When you lie down, make sure that a slight gap exists between your lower back and the bench, reflecting the natural arch of your lower back.
Don’t lift your shoulder blades off the bench or backrest. If you do this, your shoulders bear too much weight — without any support from the bench. This error is subtle but one that may be costly for your shoulder joint.
Don’t stretch too far. When you lie on your back and perform the bench press, you may be tempted to lower the bar all the way to your chest. Similarly, when you perform a push-up, you may want to lower your body all the way to the floor. Don’t. Instead, follow the instructions we provide for these and similar chest exercises.

Which chest exercises should you do first?

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Experts argue this point, but let personal preference be your guide. Here are our recommendations:

Perform free-weight exercises when you’re fresh. These exercises require more concentration, strength, and control.
Execute flat-bench exercises before incline or decline exercises. Experiment with the order of exercises for a couple of weeks until you come up with a sequence that works for you.
Change the sequence from time to time. Changing it up challenges your muscles differently. If you always do the chest fly before the dumbbell chest press, for example, you may never realize your true dumbbell press potential because your chest muscles are always tired by the time you get to that exercise.
Perform 8 to 15 reps.

Determining your one-rep max — that is, the maximum amount of weight you can lift once — is somewhat of an ancient gym tradition with the bench press. Don’t try this until you’ve been lifting weights for a month or two, and don’t attempt to max out more often than once a week. In fact, some experts believe that maxing out once a month brings better results. When you do attempt a maximum weight, make sure that you have a spotter. If you’re going for your one-rep max, do a few warm-up sets, gradually increasing the weight.

Getting a Chest Workout

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You can change the feel and focus of many chest exercises by adjusting the angle of the bench you use. Performing chest exercises on a flat bench emphasizes those fibers in the center of your chest. When you adjust the bench a few degrees to an incline position, you shift the focus of the exercise to the fibers in your upper chest and shoulder muscles. Doing the opposite — adjusting the bench to a decline position — concentrates the work on the lower fibers of the chest. By the way, decline exercises are probably the least important category of chest exercises because they work a relatively small portion of the pecs. We won’t be showing you how to operate one popular chest machine: the Pec Deck. You sit with your arms spread apart, each arm bent and placed on a pad. You push the pads toward each other, as if you’re clapping in slow motion. We think the Pec Deck should be renamed the Pec Wreck, or more accurately, the Shoulder Wreck. These machines place an enormous amount of pressure on the shoulder joint and rotator cuff and frequently lead to injury. What’s more, they don’t actually do much for your pec muscles. A safer and more effective alternative to the Pec Deck is the dumbbell chest fly.
Because your chest muscles are among the largest in your upper body, we suggest that you perform more sets of exercises with these muscles than with the smaller muscle groups of your arms. In general, we recommend:

Performing 3 to 12 sets of chest exercises per workout. True beginners should start with one set. By the way, when we say 12 sets, we don’t mean a dozen sets of the same exercise; you may want to do 3 or 4 (or more) different exercises. And, if you’re like most people who sit during the day, you need to do more sets of back exercises than chest exercises to address any muscle imbalances and prevent slouching and a collapsed chest.
Beginning each exercise with an easy warm-up set. Even powerlifters who bench-press 500 pounds often warm up with a 45-pound bar.

Enjoying Strong Pecs

2008-12-14T23:39:00.000-08:00

This may be the first time you’ve given your chest muscles any thought, but you’ve been depending on them your whole life to push things around. Now that you’ll be performing chest exercises, you can be pushier than ever. Here’s how you profit from training your pecs:

Real-life benefits: You have more oomph when you push a lawn mower or a full shopping cart with two kids hanging off the end — or when you wrap your arms around Mr. Ted at Thanksgiving after he’s eaten an entire pumpkin pie.
Injury prevention: Your chest muscles attach to your shoulder joint. So with strong pecs, you’re less likely to injure your shoulders while rearranging your furniture or pushing your car out of a mudhole.
The feel good factor: Chest exercises may make a woman’s breasts appear perkier, although keep in mind that these exercises won’t transform any woman from an AA cup to a DDD cup or vice versa.

As for men:
Pec training makes your chest fuller. However, both sexes need to maintain realistic expectations about chest exercises.

Understanding Chest Muscle

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The technical name for chest muscles is the pectorals, but you can shorten the term to pecs. You have two pec muscles:

Pectoralis major: The pec major is a skeletal muscle that draws the arm inward and rotates it. This muscle enables you to give hugs. Whenever you pledge allegiance, your hand is covering the meat of the pectoralis major.
Pectoralis minor: The pec minor moves the scapula forward and down and also raises the ribs. This muscle resides underneath the pec major. Figure shows the location of your pectorals. With the help of other muscles, such as your shoulder muscles and triceps, your pecs are in charge of a variety of pushing and hugging movements.

Back extension

2008-11-29T18:55:00.000-08:00

The back extension strengthens your lower back muscles. Performing this exercise on a regular basis may help reduce lower back pain. Use caution if you have a history of back problems or if your lower back is bothering you right now.

Getting set
Lie on your stomach with your forehead on the floor, arms straight out in front of you, palms down, and legs straight out behind you. Pull your abs in, as if you’re trying to create a small space between your stomach and the floor.

The exercise
Lift your right arm and left leg a couple of inches off the floor and stretch out as much as you can. Hold this position for five slow counts, lower back down, and then repeat the same move with your left arm and right leg. Continue alternating sides until you’ve completed the set. See Figure.

Do’s and don’ts

DO exhale as you lift and inhale as you lower.
DO pretend as if you’re trying to touch something with your toes and fingertips that’s just out of reach.
DO pay special attention to how your lower back feels.
DON’T lift up higher than a few inches.
DON’T arch your lower back.

Other options
Sequential back extension (easier): If the basic version of the back extension bothers your lower back, lift and lower your right arm, and then lift and lower your left leg.
Kneeling opposite extension (easier): Kneeling on your hands and knees, extend your right arm out in front of you and your left leg out behind you. This version places less stress on the lower back and is an excellent modification for those new to lower back training and those who feel lower back discomfort when doing back extension exercises.
Same-side back extension (harder): Do the same exercise while lifting your right arm and right leg at the same time.

Pelvic tilt

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The pelvic tilt is a subtle move that focuses on your lower back, but also emphasizes your abdominals. This is a good exercise to do if you have a history of lower back problems. The pelvic tilt restores mobility to tight or stiff muscles and it heightens body awareness of the muscles of the lower back. It is also a great warm-up exercise for more strenuous core training.

Getting set
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor about hipwidth apart. Rest your arms wherever they’re most comfortable. Start with your pelvis in a level position with the natural curve in your lower spine. See photo A.

The exercise
As you exhale, draw your abdominals in toward your spine and gently press your back down, tilting your pelvis backward. Don’t tilt your head up and back or hunch your shoulders. As you inhale, return your pelvis to a level position. See photo B.

Do’s and don’ts

DO keep your head, neck, and shoulders relaxed.
DON’T lift your lower back off the floor as you tilt your pelvis up.
DON’T arch your back off the floor when you lower your hips back down.

Other options
Chair tilt (easier): Lie on your back and place your heels up on the seat of a chair with your knees bent at a right angle and thighs perpendicular to the floor. Then perform the exercise exactly as the basic version.
Bridge (harder): At the top of the pelvic tilt, continue peeling your spine off the floor until only your shoulder blades and shoulders remain on the floor. Work hard to keep your abdominals pulled inward to prevent your back from sagging. Hold a moment and slowly lower your body downward.