The Sunday News
Simon Gama
Target area upper chest
Barbell incline press
THIS area is terrific for filling out the Upper Chest. The most effective way to do this movement is to:
1 Bring the bar down to the lower neck upper pec tevel;
2 Bring the elbows back and up to shoulder level;
3 Keep the bar moving and don’t cheat or bounce at the bottom; Target area mid to lower chest
Barbell flat bench press
1 Take a moderately wide grip on the bar;
2 Lower the weight to the mid pec level;
3 At the top of the movement, lock the arms out and contract the chest muscle hard;
4 Hold the pack contraction for 1-3 seconds.
Target area Inner chest
Standing cable crossover
1 Take a few steps out in front of the weight stack; 2 Standing cable crossover with arms straight and a cable handle in each hand bring the cables way out in front in a wide acing motion;
3 When the hands touch each other hold the peak contraction for 1-2 counts, then slowly let the weight back down.
Biceps
Target area lower biceps; One arm preacher curl
1 Keep the curling arm firmly against the pad; 2 Slowly lower the weight until the arm is fully locked out;
3 Explosively curl the weight up until the biceps is maximum contracted;
4 Hold the peak contraction for a second or two, the lower the weight back down.
The alternating dumbbell curl
You can do these sitting down because that reduces your ability to use body English. Throughout the curl focus on keeping the dumbbell in the same plane of movement avoiding any sideways shifting allow elbows the come up a little bit at the top and try to keep them fairly to your side. Moving on EZ bar preacher curl which works the lower portion at the biceps. It’s really important to allow your biceps to stretch at the bottom to the point to just before your elbows reach complete lockout. This forces the lower part of the muscle to engage and fire on that initial pull back up. The one arm curl a cable exercise is next.
Always treat cable exercises like any other exercises going hard and heavy just as you do with free weights. I finish up the workout with dumbbell curl concentration. It’s one of the best for crafting thickness throughout the biceps as well as developing ample strength.
Exercise: Alternating dumbbell curl 4 sets, 20-10-5 reps; EZ bar preacher curl 3 sets, 10-15 reps; One arm cable curl 3 sets, 10-15 each arm reps; Dumbbell concentration curl 3 sets, 10-15 each arm reps. — Additional information from Online sources.
– The writer, Simon Gama, is a fitness coach at Body Works Gym in Bulawayo.
