Archive for the ‘Workouts’ Category

Complete Workout Guide

Arms - Biceps

The Biceps are one of the most popular muscles for many people to workout.  Many girls admire guys with huge arms, and many guys try to get their arms as big as possible.  When teens just start working out they will mainly focus on their biceps, doing bicep curls, but this can lead to over training.  It is important to work out every single muscle in your body to keep everything in proportion.  The biceps brachii is located in the upper arm, it’s most important functions are to rotate the forearm and flex the elbow.  If you are looking to get your arms bulkier then you will have to workout your biceps with proper weight resistance training.  Although it is true that the bicep only encompasses about 1/3rd of the arm, while the triceps takes up the other 2/3rds it is still extremely important to exercises your biceps if you wish to get big arms.  Since the biceps are a rather small muscle group in the human anatomy it is okay to train them up to two - three times a week.  I would reccomend about one or two extremely exhausting sessions a week, to get the most out of muscle gains.  Remember, you gain muscle when you sleep - not in the gym, over training muscles can actually lead to problems later in your life.

Bicep Workout and Exerscises

Now I will tell you some of my favorite bicep exerscies, there are a ton of different ones you can do but it is up to you to find out which exerscises affect your muscles the most.  Remember I would do about two bicep exerscises per workout, and only workout my biceps about two times in a week.  This will ensure that the muscle has time to grow and if you intake plenty of protein your’e muscles will get repaired and become bigger each time you workout.

Alternate Hammer Curl

Description

-Begin with weights in hands, palms inward.
-Bend elbow of one arm, bringing weight up and out slightly to outside of shoulder. Keep palms inward
-Lower while raising other weight in same manner.

I have found that this exerscise is great for hammering those biceps really hard.  A great thing about the alternate hammer curl is that it also works out your forearms, after a few sets of these the veins will be popping out of your forearms like crazy.  This exerscise is also really good if you have long and lanky arms like I do, it is better for hitting your whole bicep muscle which helps to evenly distribute it within your upper arm.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, once a week

Barbell Preacher Curl

Description

-Start sitting down at a curl machine
-Pickup the barbell and put the back of your arms on the curl machine
-Now lift the bar upwards towards your chin

You can really feel your biceps when you do the barbell preacher curl.  After a few sets of these my biceps are aching for a few days.  If you can aquire an EZ bar to do these it can help with some wrist pain that you might get, and make it a little easier on your wrists overall.  The barbell preacher curls are an extremely important exerscise for your biceps.

Recommended Amount: 3 sets of 8 reps, once a week

One of my all time favorite resources for an ab workout has to be youtube. Love it or hate it, it’s crammed with videos for every crunch, press-up and pull up you can imagine. You name it, it’s on youtube.

Unfortunately though, due to it’s nature, it’s also full of videos that will teach you wrong form or exercises which will simply waste your time. So, being the kind people that we are, we’ve taken the time to sort through the junk and give you what we think are the best ab workout videos on youtube.

1. Couch Ab Workout

One of my favourites when I first started working out. It provides a good, all round ab workout and believe me, you can really feel the burn. The other great thing is it can easily be done at home and all it takes is a couch, which almost everybody has. If not it can be done anywhere with a similar place to hold, like a bed for example.

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3fU_8kJeXeE

2. Simple, minimum equipment, Ab workout

Though the music to this video does add a, how to put it, less masculine effect, the workouts are pretty standard. These should be a staple in your ab workout, and again is very good for beginners. It also has some more advanced moves for when your abs grow in strength, like using dumbells .

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lB0qZgGLdzw

3. Unusual Ab Workout

What’s also great about youtube is you’ll sometimes come across what may seem to be a rather unusual exercise, but in practice actually has a really good effect. This one leg off the ground thing really does seem to work. Amazing what you find eh…

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zJGlP-Z21ws

4. Hardcore Ab Workout

Now, after you’ve been working out for a while you’re probably going to want something a little tougher. This is why I recommend this workout. It has a wide range of different crunches, sit ups, etc, and also includes some nice stretches in there. It’s also rather lengthy, lasting for around 6 minutes. Think you’re ready? Go for it.

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fk_usVg7Fp0

5. Advanced Ab workout.

There’s a lot you can do to your abs without equipment but eventually you may want to invest. On the most part, items are cheap. Dumbells, medicine balls, elastics can usually all be brought for under $60. Once you’re in hold of some equipment, take a look at this workout. It doesn’t just focus on the abs, but also provides a good, overall workout.

httpv://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rdzS43Pff1w

Abs. Possibly the most popular part of the body which people want to workout. The result, a stronger, harder stomach with prominent abdominal muscles.

Abs are the core of your body and are used in almost everything, from lifting, to simply getting out of bed in the morning.

Here are a simple set of exercises you could begin with when first starting to workout your abs.

Crunches

A simple, yet effective exercise. It focuses just on your abs rather than your back and other muscles like a sit up.

To perform a crunch, like on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Your legs should be body width apart.

Now, put your hands behind your ears and look at the ceiling. Choose a point and fixate your eyes on this spot. Curl up and forwards so that your head, neck and shoulders leave the ground. The distance you raise your head will increase the more you practise, but you should aim to come up a fair few inches. Once reaching your peak hold for two seconds and you should feel your abs tense, then come back down. This is one repetition.

Perform 4 sets of this exercise with each set consisting of 20-40 repetitions. Give yourself up to 60 seconds rest between each set.

Leg Lifts

Leg lifts are also a simple, core exercise which can be done with dumbbells to increase the intensity.

To complete a leg lift, lie on your back, legs straight out and hands at your sides. Lift your legs till they are at about a 70-80 degree angle then slowly lower down until they are a few inches from the floor. This is one repetition.

Perform 4 sets of this exercise, each set consisting of 30-40 repetitions. Again, give yourself up to 60 seconds rest between each set.

Bicycle Exercise

The bicycle crunch is a great way to finish your ab workout. You’re probably going to be aching at this point so don’t worry if you cant complete many, or any sets at all.

Lie flat on the floor with your head face up. Place your hands on the side of your head so your elbows stick out opposite each other. Now that your in position, lift your left shoulder of the floor and meet your left elbow with your right knee. Then do the same but with your right elbow and your left knee. This is one repetition.

Perform as many sets as you can of this exercise with each set consisting of 20-40 repetitions.

Result

Perform this routine at least 3 times a week but no more than 4 and you will see results within the month. Even if you don’t see results due to a high fat percentage you will still have stronger abs which will be shown as soon as fat is lost.