Lesson Upper Body Exercises Arms & Shoulders By Carone Fitness Anterior (Front) Of Arm Although arms are sometimes focused on too much, they still are an important part of a balanced strength training routine. The primary anterior arm muscles are the biceps and muscles located in the forearm. Exercises for these muscles are the Standing Curl Concentration Curl Preacher Curl Wrist Curls 1
Standing Curl 1. Assume a standing position with knees slightly bent, shoulders slightly forward. 2. Arms are fully extended, palms up or toward the legs. (Pictured is palms up or the supine position) Standing Curl 1. Keeping the slight forward body lean and bend in the knees, curl up the dumbbells. 2. Exhale while curling, inhale while returning to the starting position. 3. Return to a fully extended arm position, just ensure that the weight is controlled in order to not hyperextend the elbow. 2
Concentration Curl 1. Sit on a bench or seat. 2. Rotating at the waist and keeping the back straight, place the exercising arm on the inner thigh. 3. The elbow should be fully extended and placed midway down the inner thigh. Concentration Curl 1. While exhaling curl the arm while maintaining the elbow position on the middle of the inner thigh. 2. Inhale while lowering the weight back to the fully extended position. 3. Make sure and control the weight on the way down to prevent hyperextending the elbow. 3
Preacher Curl 1. Depending on the preacher curl pad, either stand with knees slightly bent or be seated, feet flat on the floor. 2. Adjust the arm rest to a position that allows the forearms to rest on the pad when the arm is fully extended. Preacher Curl 1. Exhale while curling the weight up. 2. Inhale while lowering the weight back to the starting position. 3. Make sure to control the weight when returning the arm back to the starting position to avoid hyperextending the elbow. 4
Wrist Curl 1. Sit on a bench or seat, feet flat on the floor, and the back straight. 2. Turn the palms up and place the hand either off the edge of the knees or the bench. 3. The wrist should be in a fully extended position. 4. If exercising one arm at a time hold down the forearm close to the bench to avoid moving the elbow up and down. The exercise should isolate the wrist. Wrist Curl 1. Exhale while curling up the wrist or wrists. 2. Be aware of the elbow and ensure it does not move around, remember to isolate the wrist. 3. Inhale while returning the hand back to the starting position. 4. Be careful not to overuse this exercise as it can cause wrist soreness. 5
Posterior (Back) Of Arm The back of the upper arm is dominated by the triceps muscle. Exercises for the triceps involve any sort of arm extension such as the Triceps Push Down, One-Arm Pull Down, Kickback and Kickback with a Twist. Triceps Pushdown 1. Assume a standing position, knees slightly bent. 2. Slightly rotate at the waist in order to roll the shoulders forward. 3. Elbows should be tight to the sides of the body. 4. Hands should start at a height below the chest. 5. The head should not be one side or the other of the cable. 6
Triceps Pushdown 1. Exhale while fully extending the arms. 2. Make sure the elbows remain tight to the body for the duration of the extension. 3. As the weight becomes more difficult do not lean on the bar, make the triceps do all the work. 4. Inhale while returning to the starting position. One Arm Pull Down 1. Assume a standing position, knees slightly bent. 2. Slightly rotate at the waist in order to roll the shoulders forward. 3. The palm is facing up toward the ceiling. 4. Elbow should be tight to the side of the body. 5. Hand should start at a height below the chest. 7
One Arm Pull Down 1. Exhale while fully extending the arm. 2. Make sure the elbow remain tight to the body during the duration of the extension. 3. As the weight becomes more difficult do not lean over the exercising arm, make the triceps do all the work. 4. Inhale while returning to the starting position. Kickback 1. Stance: Put one knee on the bench with the other leg slightly bent, foot on the floor. The foot touching the ground should be the same as the arm performing the exercise. 2. Spread yourself out enough that you can keep your back flat, head slightly up. Support arm should be locked out. 3. The upper arm should be parallel to the floor with the elbow in the cocked position. 4. Position the elbow tight to the body. 8
Kickback 1. Exhale while fully extending the elbow in a controlled manner. 2. Ensure the upper arm stays parallel to the floor while performing the exercise. As fatigue sets in do not let the elbow fall. Additionally, ensure that full extension of the elbow is achieved with each repetition. 3. Inhale while returning back to the cocked arm position. Kickback With Twist Because the triceps muscle has three parts there is a need to work the medial or inner part of the arm. One way to accomplish working the inner aspect of the triceps is to twist the wrist at the top of a kickback. The action of the kickback is the same except right before reaching full extension rotate the hand to end up in a palm up position. Rotate the hand back to the normal hammer grip when returning to the starting position. 9
Shoulders Commonly divided into three parts, the shoulder girdle is a muscle group that you should spend a lot of time developing. We will look at an exercise for each part of the shoulder as well as the seated shoulder press. Anterior Deltoid 1. Assume a standing position, knees slightly bent, feet shoulder width. 2. Arms are almost fully extended. 10
Anterior Deltoid 1. Raise one arm straight up in front of the shoulder. 2. Finish with the wrist, elbow, and shoulder in the same plane. 3. Keep the elbows slightly bent to take the pressure off the elbow. 4. Exhale when lifting the weight up, squeezing the abdominals in order to keep the back straight. 5. Return the arm back to the starting position. Lateral Raise 1. Assume a standing position, knees slightly bent, feet shoulder width. 2. Arms almost fully extended. 11
Lateral Raise 1. Raise both arms straight out to the side, keep the point of the elbow pointed to the rear of the body. 2. Finish with the wrist, elbow, and shoulder in the same plane. 3. Keep the elbows slightly bent to take the pressure off the elbow joint. 4. Exhale when lifting the weight up, squeezing the abdominals in order to keep the back straight. 5. Return the arms back to the starting position. Posterior Deltoid 1. Sit on a bench, chest on top of the legs, feet flat on the floor. 2. Hold the dumbbells in front of the legs, arms slightly bent. 3. Keep the eyes up slightly in order to keep the back straight. 12
Posterior Deltoid 1. While keeping the chest as close to the legs as possible, lift the arms up to the sides. 2. Keep a slight elbow bent throughout the exercise, the elbow should not flex or extend during the lift. 3. Keep the arms straight out from the shoulder. 4. At the top of the arm lift, try to squeeze the shoulder blades together. 5. Exhale when lifting the arms, inhale on the way down. 6. Breathing will be difficult during this lift but try to keep the chest as close to the legs as possible and the back straight. Dumbbell Seated Shoulder Press 1. Stance: Sit upright, lower back against the back rest, legs bent, feet flat on the floor. 2. Arms should start at full or near full extension. 3. Do not bring the weights together but rather position them over each shoulder. 4. Make sure to have a spotter ready to assist you. 13
Dumbbell Seated Shoulder Press 1. Lower the arms by bending the elbows to 90 degrees at the elbow, keep the wrists directly above the elbows at all times 2. Dumbbells should be in a position ¾ away from the back of the head or just behind the forehead. 3. Keep the lower back firmly against the back rest throughout the exercise, DO NOT arch your lower back. 4. As you push the weight back to the starting position exhale and contract your abdomen in a way that it is tight but does not restrict breathing. Trapezious The last exercise in this lesson is for the Trapezious muscle. The motion that works this muscle best is shrugging. 1. Assume a standing position. 2. Arms fully extended. 14
The Shrug 1. Raise the shoulders up in a shrugging motion. 2. Make sure the arms stay fully extended, elbows locked. 3. Slowly lower the shoulders back down to the starting position. 4. Exhale when lifting the shoulders up, inhale when lowering the weights back to the starting position. Presented By Carone Fitness 15