Body And Fitness Blog

As you may have read from Tristan’s blog we had a workout together on Saturday 28th March. This turned out to be a very effective one for our arms as we’re both still feeling the effects two days later! My arms haven’t felt so worked out in ages actually. I think in part it was due to having some extra motivation with Tris there - you always get an extra rep or two out when you’re trying to outdo your mate! Also we did some heavy duty and even some negative exercises. I especially like heavy duty as it’s not something I’ve done before and it feels very effective. Tris says he is going to do an article on heavy duty principles so look out for that soon. Once I’ve got past this busy work period I will get posting more often too.

One good thing about our workout was that we were monitoring each other’s form. The younger days of just getting a big weight up in any way possible are obviously gone! Hopefully we’ll continue to meet up and do the odd workout as it’s motivating and fun to have some competition.

I also think we did some of the most effective bi/tri exercises out there:

E/Z bar curls (Preacher Curls): you do these with the curved bar over a special slanted bench. They isolate your biceps by forcing you to not use momentum or move your upper arms. As long as you keep your elbows in and don’t go taking your bum off the seat then you’ll be doing perfect reps every time. Definitely get some of these into your regime if you have the equipment in your gym. These would also be ideal for some heavy duty as there is tension throughout.

Lying E/Z bar (Skullcrushers!!): Again using our friend the E/Z (curved bar) you lie on a flat bench and lift the bar above your head. Then, keeping your elbows in, lower the bar towards your head, aiming for the tip of your forehead region. Don’t go below 90 degrees or it’s rough on your elbows. Be very careful with the weight too or you really will crush your head! I find these work your triceps really hard and isolate them at the same time.

Tricep Dips: you can do these between two benches or on a dip machine (sometimes with weight assist). They’re both effective. Again, keep those elbows in or you’re cheating!!