Workout 33: Shoulders & Triceps
Shoulders Exercises
- Stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart. Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip that is slightly less than shoulder width apart. The bar should be in front of your thighs with your arms extended and your palms facing your body.
- Use the sides of your shoulders to lift the bar up towards your chest and drive your elbows up and to the side. Keep the bar close to your body as you raise it.
- While keeping your elbows flared out, continue to lift the bar until it’s at your upper chest level. Keep your torso stationary and pause for a second at the top of the movement.
- Slowly lower the bar back to the starting position.
- Stand upright with your feet hip width apart. Grasp one dumbbell with each hand so that your palms are facing inward and hands are against your thighs.
- While keeping your torso stationary, lift the dumbbells in front of you with a straight arm or slightly bent elbow. Continue to raise the dumbbell until your arm is slightly above parallel to the ground or around shoulder level.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
- On the reverse fly machine (which sometimes doubles as a chest fly machine), adjust the handles so that they are fully facing the rear (closest together). Adjust the seat height to make the handles at your shoulder level. Sit on the seat with your chest against the pad and grasp the handles with your palms facing inwards.
- Pull your hands out to your sides and back as far as possible. This should make a semicircular motion where you should feel a stretch in your shoulders.
- Pause at the back of the movement, and slowly return the weight to the starting position.
- Sit on a military press bench, or any utility bench that has a back support, and hold two dumbbells upright on the top of your thighs.
- With your palms facing each other, lift the dumbbells up (one at a time) to shoulder level.
- Then, rotate your wrists so that your palms are facing upward toward the ceiling.
- Press your dumbbells up and toward each other, without jerking your back.
- Slowly lower them until they return to the starting position.
Triceps Exercises
- 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.
Caution: In order to protect yourself, it is advised to have a spotter help you.
- Start by lying on a flat bench. Retract your shoulder blades as far back as possible so they are touching the back of the pad and make sure to keep them there during the movement.
- Using a close overhand grip, more narrow than shoulder width apart, lift the bar from the rack. Hold the bar directly above your sternum with your arms locked.
- As you inhale, slowly lower the bar until you feel it on or close to your chest. Your forearm should create a 45° angle to your body. To optimize the workout for your tricep, keep your elbows tucked in close to your torso at all times.
- Bring the bar back to the starting position as you exhale. If you can, try to take at least twice as long to go down than you did when coming up.
- Attach 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.
- Hold your body above the bars with your arms fully extended and nearly locked into the starting position.
- Next, in the middle of the movement, raise the dumbbells as you rotate your palms until they are facing forward.
- 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.
