Workout 33: Biceps & Triceps
Bicep Exercises
1. Spider Barbell Curl
- To begin this exercise; position the bench in an incline degree. Similar to if you were performing an incline bench press movement. Also, place the barbell so that you are going to use just in front of the bench.
- Place yourself on top of the bench with your stomach and front torso pressing against. As you grip the barbell in front, ensure that both feet are firmly positioned against the floor allowing your body full stabilization and a firm base.
- Hold the bar with your palms facing the ceiling, and curl the bar upwards, making sure to keep your elbows still throughout the movement.
- Slowly release the bar back down.
2. Dumbbell Hammer Curl
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms extended along your sides. Your elbows should be tucked in close to your torso and your palms should be facing your torso.
- Keep your upper arm stationary as you contract your biceps and curl the dumbbells directly upward. Continue to raise the dumbbells until your biceps are fully contracted and the dumbbell is at shoulder-level. Focus on only moving your forearm.
- After a brief pause, slowly begin to lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position.
3. Zottman Curl
- Stand upright with a dumbbell in each of your hands at arm's length. Your elbows should be tucked in close to your torso. Make sure your palms are facing your body before beginning the movement.
- Contract your biceps as you curl the dumbbells upward; only your forearms should be moving. As you curl up, rotate your wrists so that your palms are facing upward, like in an underhand grip. Continue this movement until the dumbbells are at your shoulder-level.
- Try to hold the contracted position for a second while sweeping your biceps. Then, in the contracted position, rotate your wrists again until you your palms are facing down, like in an overhand grip.
- With this overhand grip, slowly lower the dumbbells back down.
- As the dumbbells approach your thighs, rotate your wrists to return to your original grip with your palms facing inward towards your body.
4. Single Arm Underhand Cable Curl
- Set up for the one arm cable curl by attaching a single grip handle to a low pulley cable and selecting the weight you want to use.
- Stand in front of the cable machine and grasp the handle with an underhand grip.
- Keeping your body fixed, elbow tucked in at your side, and eyes facing forward, slowly curl the weight up as far as possible.
- Squeeze the bicep at the top of the movement, and then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.
- Repeat for desired reps, and then repeat for the other arm.
Tricep Exercises
1. Skull Crusher
- Lie back on a flat or slightly inclined bench. Using an overhand grip, grasp the innermost grips on the EZ bar. Hold it with your elbows tucked in and your arms perpendicular to the ground.
- Keeping your upper arms stationary, lower the bar by unlocking your elbows to a flexed position. Pause once the bar is directly above your forehead.
- Reverse the bar back to the starting position by extending your elbows while flexing your tricep.
2. Dip
- Hold your body above the bars with your arms fully extended and nearly locked into the starting position.
- Inhale and slowly lower yourself downward. Your torso should remain upright and your elbows should stay close to your body to help to better work your triceps. Lower yourself until a 90° angle is created between your upper arms and forearms.
- Exhale and push your torso back up using your triceps (feeling a slight stretch in your shoulders) to bring your body back to the starting position.
3. Tricep Rope Pulldown
- Secure a rope attachment to the high pulley at its highest position. Stand in front of the pulley, hinge at your hips, and grab the rope with your palms facing each other.
- Keep your elbows close to your torso, while using your triceps to pull the rope downwards toward the outside of your thighs. At the most contracted point of the motion, your arms should be fully extended and perpendicular to the ground. Your forearms should be the only part moving.
- After reaching the contracted position, slowly bring the rope up to the starting point.
4. Cross Body Tricep Extension
- This is similar to the ordinary single arm tricep extension you’ve been doing, only here you’re extending across your body rather than straight down and back. The crossbody extension focuses on the lateral head while the ordinary tricep extension hits the long head in the back of the arm (although both exercises work the entire tricep!
- Lift a cable pulley all the way up and make sure there’s a single arm handle on it.
- Grab the handle, and stand horizontally in relation to the the cable like the picture above.
- Keeping your elbow in place and your wrist still, pull down and out until your tricep is completely flexed, hold for a moment, and slowly go back to the starting position.
- Switch sides when you’ve finished.