Q. Good morning Glenn,
I have been doing weights for the last 11 months (following the Body for Life program for probably half of it) and am very pleased with the results I am getting in the main muscle groups, however I still cannot get as much improvement in the size of my arms. Do you have any suggestions or workout programs for me to get the improvement I desire. (Gregory Davison)
A. Gregory,
This is a commonly asked question that is hard to answer without seeing your program, but I will give you a few tips and see how you go. Firstly, you mostly want to work in the 10-12 repetition range when doing arms, as this works the muscle fibre type of this group of muscles best. Secondly, keep the sets low but the intensity high (short and sharp). Thirdly, you can work the arms more frequently as the recovery is quicker than the prime movers (chest legs etc). Finally, make sure your work outs are balanced evenly between bicep and tricep.
Q. Glen, I have been training for five months and can see the improvement the gym has made, I have two questions, firstly, what are dumbbell flies? Secondly, is it worth doing the dumbbell raises (where you lift your arms parallel to the ground sideways) or are they a waste of time, are you better of doing chin-ups or reverse chin-ups on the bar? (Matthew Panton)
A. Matthew,
For your first question, dumbbell flies are a chest exercise that works mostly the pectoralis major muscle. To do the exercise take the following steps:
1. Lie flat on a narrow mobile bench to allow shoulder movement and raise your feet to keep your back flat. Extend your arms over your face then slightly bend them (like hugging a pillar) to take some pressure off your joints.
2. Inhale and then lower the dumbbell until your elbows are at shoulder height.
3. Lift the dumbbell back to your starting point while exhaling.
Note – this exercise should never be performed with heavy weights.
Now for your second question which I will answer in two parts. Yes, dumbbell raises are definitely worth doing in all there two variations as they primarily use the major shoulder muscle called deltoid. This muscle has three parts – anterior deltoid (front), medius deltoid (middle) and posterior deltoid (back). This muscle is well covered by the dumbbell raises, with exercises like lateral dumbbell raises working middle deltoids and dumbbell front raises working mostly the anterior deltoids and upper pectorals. Chip ups are also worth doing but are a completely different exercise as it mostly works the major back muscles with the reverse chin ups also having the added bonus of working the biceps.
Q. Glenn, I’ve have given up the smokes six months ago now and being a female and getting older I am putting on weight as a combination of metabolic slow down and non smoking. I have my own universal gym and most all other equipment, including free weights, steps, ex bike, leg and arm weights etc, but I've let my workouts slip. What weight should I be using in your sessions and what is dumbbell hammer curls? I don’t have a bench so the incline bench work can be done what other way? Thanks for your time. Looking forward to match fitness... (Victoria Nelson)
A. Victoria,
Congratulations on giving up smoking, you are obviously mentally strong. All you have to do is take this mental strength and carry it into your workouts. The quickest way to get your metabolism up and running again is through exercise and weight training. Lean muscle mass has the ability to burn fat. The amount of weight you are lifting should be that which matches the repetition range in the program. Ie. At the moment the program is in the 8 repetition range, so if you lift a weight that you can only do 7 repetition then it is too heavy, but on the other hand if you can lift the weight for 12 repetitions it is probably too light.
Dumbbell hammer curls are an arm exercise, which is done the following way:
1. Grab a dumbbell and stand or sit with the dumbbell by your side and your palms facing inwards to each other.
2. Inhale and curl the dumbbell to your shoulders either simultaneously or alternately, but don’t rotate the wrist. Keep the palms facing into each other over the whole movement – ie. like holding a hammer and hammering in a nail to wood.
3. Exhale as you bring the weight back to your side.
Victoria you can do all the flat bench exercise on the floor but if you can’t incline or decline bench just flatten out your ironing board and stack up one end with telephone books to get your desired angle. I hope all goes well. Train hard – Glenn Turner.
