Posts Tagged ‘toned arms’

Increasing your understanding of the science behind flabby arms is a great way to increase your probability of sexy arm success. Why? Because the more you know, the less likely it is that you will be duped into doing an ineffective program.

You may run into some stumbling blocks, however. One stumbling block will be all the new vocabulary you will encounter. After all, as knowledge becomes more deep so does the vocabulary to describe said knowledge.

So without further ado, here are some common exercise phrases that you may encounter in your flabby arm mission:

1. A concentric contraction. Whenever one of your muscles makes one of your bones move it shortens. There are little proteins called myosin and actin which hook onto each other and pull together. When you do a bicep curl, your bicep shortens and forms a bulge, for instance.

2. Negative, eccentric contractions. This portion of the exercise is considered a crowned jewel for many bodybuilders. Why? Because it causes a lot of muscle damage which translates into a lot of muscle growth. When doing a shoulder press, for instance, slowly bringing the weight back down after pushing it up is the negative or eccentric portion of the movement.

3. An exercise movement. This is the completion of an exercise through its entire range of motion. There is a start point a mid point and an end point. Another way to look at this definition is the completion of the eccentric and concentric portion of an exercise.

4. A repetition. This is the singular completion of an exercise. You can view it as one unit of exercise. Thus, one set of 12 repetitions would involve doing an exercise 12 times.

5. One complete set. A set is a grouping of consecutive repetitions without substantial rest in between said repetitions. There are some advanced types of sets such as drop sets and super sets. In which you do the same exercise over and over again with lower weights or when you combine the set of one exercise with the set of another exercise without ANY rest.

The best way to approach the acquisition of new knowledge is by one step at a time. Do NOT try to learn an entirely new skill set in one shot. Doing so can burn you out, leave you unmotivated and be extremely discouraging. Absorb as much as you can at your own pace and ignore all the marketing hype. Do this, and you will be many steps closer to getting rid of those flabby arms.

About the author: Katherine Crawford M.S., a Harvard exercise physiologist and former flabby arms refugee, instructs women on how to lose arm fat. Uncover how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her blog about toned arms now!

Not all arm toning exercises are created equal. Some are much more effective than others and if you spend a lot of time doing the useless ones, you could be spinning your wheels.

To make matters worse, every expert out there has a different opinion as to which arm exercises for women are best. You could develop a mental hernia trying to navigate all the opinions.

Luckily for you, I’ve been there and done that.

So without further ado, here are 4 essential arm exercises for women:

1. Overhead dumbbell triceps extensions. This exercise does a superb job at targeting the long head of the triceps, the area where arm fat hangs and jiggles from. And if you want to take it to the next level, get the full stretch at the bottom of the movement.

2. Curls with an inside grip. Curling with an inside grip or narrow grip does an excellent job at working the outside part of your biceps. And the outside part of your biceps is a very visible area. Not to mention, the biceps is the first arm muscle someone will see when looking at you from the front.

3. Hammer curls. Only do this exercise if you feel that your upper forearms need work. Otherwise, use it sparingly. This one is ok for the biceps and superb for the forearms. Just remember that arm fat doesn’t hang from your forearms!

4. Incline bench curls. Rarely will an exercise work a muscle through its entire range of motion, yet this movement just does that. It’s one of the best exercises you can do for your biceps. Again, you’ll have to use lighter weights here. And don’t be discouraged because of the reduced load!

If you stick to the basics and do them with maximum effort, you should notice some drastic results. The key here is to stay away from all the fads and flashy movements-rarely do they provide much benefit. And remember that intensity is the name of the game.

Regarded author Katherine Crawford M.S., a Harvard exercise physiologist and former flabby arms sufferer, is an expert on arm toning exercises. Discover how to get toned arms right now by visiting her blog on upper arm exercises.

Every trainer has a different angle on how to do arm exercises. However, some angles are less effective than others. And if you’re using outdated techniques, you could be wasting too much time.

And in the worst of cases, you may fail to see any type of result from all your hard work. Now once you stop seeing results (if at all) your chances of abandonment sky rocket.

So here are some useful pointers on how to make arm exercises for women world class:

1. Get the full stretch when doing overhead triceps extensions. When doing a tricep extension, make sure you get a full stretch at the bottom of the movement. You’ll have to use lighter weights, but the long head of your triceps will get worked like nothing else. And the long head is the precise area from which arm fat hangs.

2. Aim for a forceful squeeze. This is most useful when performing any type of press down for the triceps area. By squeezing at the bottom, you’ll place the maximum amount of stress on your triceps. And maximum stress translates into maximum results.

3. Do some negative repetitions, but don’t do overboard. You don’t want to go overboard because they do cause a lot of muscle damage. However, when used moderately they greatly accelerate your arm toning progress. They’re a great tool for making arm exercises ultra effective.

4. Use some really heavy weight. But don’t let your form deviate. In fact, never let your form deviate. How heavy? Don’t be afraid to venture into the 3-5 repetition range! Trust me, your arms will thank you for it. After all, you have to target all types of muscle fibers in your arm for the best results.

Learning how to do arm exercises for women in the most effective manner doesn’t have to be difficult. The key is to ignore all the gadgets and flashy movements. After all, the most effective arm exercises are always the most basic ones done with a high level of intensity.

Author Katherine Crawford MS, a Harvard exercise expert and former flabby arms sufferer, is an expert on arm exercises for women. Discover how to get toned arms right now by exploring her blog on arm exercises.

Small deviations in technique can really add up when doing exercises for your arms. Over the long run, said deviations can really put a dent in your progress and potentially cause serious injury.

Now I strongly feel that the majority of women wishing to get toned arms aren’t even aware of these deviations. There is a lot going on when performing an arm workout, so perfecting technique probably isn’t a top priority.

Well, I don’t recommend getting too anal here. However, avoiding the most common mistakes will give you the biggest bang for your buck while not making your arm workouts a mechanistic nightmare.

Thus, here are 4 mistakes to avoid when doing arm exercises for women:

1. Heave hoeing the weight up. This is most common with barbell curls and all its variations. The problem? It places a lot of stress on your lower back and takes stress off of your biceps. Not a good thing if you want fast arm toning.

2. Letting the shoulders come up. Most common with press downs for the triceps, although some women also do this when performing curls. What’s the big deal? When you elevate the shoulders, you work your trapezius (neck) muscles, not your arm muscles. And do you really want a big neck?

3. Allowing the elbows to shift around. Probably the most common error, letting the elbows shift takes all the stress of your arms-not a good thing if you want rapid arm toning. It can also lead to some shoulder impingement issues in the long run. So keep your elbows locked in place!

4. Not digging in with the heels. Digging into the ground with your heels when doing any type of lifting is one of the simplest yet most effective things you can do. Why? Because digging in with your heels uses the largest muscles in your body for support.

Avoiding the above errors when doing arm exercises will make you better off than most women. Don’t worry about having perfect technique, this will make your arm workouts a nightmare. Instead, do your best to avoid the major errors and keep the flow going.

Katherine Crawford MS, a Harvard exercise expert and former arm fat victim, is an expert on exercise for women. Discover how to get sexy and toned arms now by visiting her blog on arm exercise.