Monday, April 26, 2010

How To Do The Dumbbell Front Arm Raise

Exercises the chest, shoulders and abdominal muscles

by


healthy_blogging


The dumbbell is a very good exercise for weight lifting beginners. It trains several muscle groups simultaneously which helps to balance upper body development. And since you can start off with light weights, this is a great for developing proper form and technique. So today, I'm going to discuss the how to's of the dumbbell front raise.

How To Perform The Front Arm Dumbbell Raise

You'll need to light weight dumbbells for this exercise. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand. Hold them in front of your thighs. Then raise your arms up until the dumbbells are perpendicular to the floor. You should not raise the weights higher than eye level. Your arms will be in a horizontal position. Then lower the weight down to your thighs again. This is one rep. Repeat the action for a second repetition. You have to stand straight and keep your abs tight. You should feel the action as a a slight pulling in your upper chest. It also works, the shoulders very nicely. If you're swaying back to get the weight up it means that you're lifting more than your body is ready for. In such a case, choose lighter weights.

You can do variations of the above front arm dumbbell raise. Alternating between the right and left arm maybe easier for those who are unaccustomed to weight training or have weaker muscles. Another variation is the barbell front arm raise. The only difference here is that you will use a light weight barbell in place of dumbbells.

As you become stronger, you will be able to use heavier weights for the dumbbell front arm raise. The only way to develop a great chest is to constantly target the muscle groups in the upper body. Compound lifts are ideal because in order to maintain proper form each group will have to hold its own weight (literally), allowing for a natural progression of strength. The dumbbell front arm raise is often overlooked because a lot of guys prefer to bench press. But adding the this exercise to your routine on chest day, will give you a more complete workout. And it will accelerate your strength gains.

Well, this concludes our discussion of the dumbbell front arm raise. Look forward to more articles on my Great Chest Workouts website. Thanks for reading.

"Great Chest Workout Dumbbell Front Arm Raise" copyright 2010 Great Chest Workouts. All Rights Reserved.





Monday, April 19, 2010

How To Do Dumbbell Flyes

For A Great Chest Workout


by


healthy_blogging


Women are immediately drawn to men who have powerful looking chest muscles. Why? Because they are a visual indicator of confidence, health and vitality. This elevates a man's sexual value immensely. So it's important that we regularly work these muscles to make them stronger and more attractive. And amongst the variety of chest building exercise, dumbbell flyes is at the top of the list. To keep my exercises interesting I occasionally perform them as an alternative to bench presses. In this article I'm going to focus on flat bench dumbbell flys because this is probably one of the trickier and even more dangerous chest exercises that you may see performed in your gym or fitness center. This exercise is great because it does wonders for the chest and shoulders, but if done improperly dumbbell flyes can lead to injury and setbacks.

What You Will Need For This Exercise

You'll need for two dumbbells and a flat bench to perform this exercise. I will point out that these can be done using a decline or incline bench depending on which parts of the chest you wish to emphasize most. While lying flat on your back you will hold a dumbbell in each hand. ***Safety first!!*** When doing dumbbell flys do not use heavy weights, the reason for this is that excessive weight can damage the rotator cuff which is a group of muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder (1). Damage to this area is not only painful but can interfere with your ability to lift objects and properly move your arms. If you're a novice to the exercise you may want to start out with 5 - 10 pound dumbbells.

How To Perform Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyes

Lie flat on your back, your arms extended from your sides with your palms facing each other. Make sure that your elbows are slightly bent. You should feel a mild stretching in your chest. Now using your chest, slowly bring the weights together in an arcing fashion but do not allow them to touch. Now, hold for a second squeezing the chest together. Then slowly lower your arms until you've returned to your initial position. Perform 10 repetitions of the dumbbell flye exercise, rest for 30 seconds then perform another set of 10 repetitions. Depending on your strength and fitness level you may perform several sets of the exercise. If you're new to the exercise ask someone to spot you, he/she should stand at the head of the bench and follow you through the movement, and, if necessary, help you lower the weights to a safe position. As you become stronger and more proficient at the exercise, you may lift more weight but remember not to overdo it. There's nothing to be gained from a debilitating injury.

This covers the flat bench dumbbell flye exercise. Look forward to more articles on the Great Chest Workouts website. Thanks for reading.

References

Rotator Cuff. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Rotator_cuff

"Do Dumbbell Flyes For A Great Chest Workout" copyright Great Chest Workouts 2010. All rights reserved.

Monday, April 12, 2010

How To Do Chest Dips To Develop A Stronger Chest




Chest dips are an excellent way to build strength and put on muscle.

by

healthy_blogging

If you're looking for an incredibly powerful chest strengthening exercise that will rip you up and leave you wanting more of the same, the chest dip is the one for you. Chest dips don't require a lot of equipment and you'll have a lot of fun doing them. If you ever hope to develop a great chest this is one of the most effective exercises in the arsenal. Why? Because it is a compound exercise that makes your chest, shoulders, triceps and wrists do all of the work. Today I am going to teach you proper technique for this exercise.

Performing chest dips


You will need parallel bars or two chairs that are sturdy enough to support your body weight. Stand between the dip bars. Bend your legs. While keeping your arms tight, lean your upper torso forward by 15 to 30 degrees. **To protect against injury you must lean forward less than 45 degrees when performing this exercise.**Push yourself upward but make sure that your elbows don't lock. Then lower your body until you feel a stretching in your chest. Now, use your chest muscles to push your upper body back up again. This is one rep. Repeat the process again. Do this as many times as you can. When your muscles fatigue that's the time to stop.

Beginners will find this to be a very difficult exercise. Do not be surprised if you are unable to accomplish more than a few reps. If this exercise is too difficult for you at first, then you have a few options. If your gym has an assisted dip machine, you may use it for this workout. You will need to stand on the lever and allow it to help you dip then raise back up to your starting position. Or you may ask someone to hold your ankles while you perform the routine. As you become stronger you should increase your repetitions. Once you're able to complete 15 reps in one set, you may want to perform weighted chest dips. All you will need for these is a weight vest or a weight belt from which you can attach a weight plate. From that point, you would execute weighted chest dips the same way as with regular chest dips.

Because of the power of this exercise, it is great to do them on chest day right after bench presses. I recommend doing three sets with a MINIMUM of 15 repetitions (if you can do more then go for it). Practice dips often and you will develop a strong, powerful chest. If done properly, your chest muscles will feel incredibly sore after you've finished the workout. This is what you want because it means that your muscles have been fired up. When this happens you know you're on your way to developing a great chest.

That's all you need to know for dips. Look forward to more articles on my Great Chest Workouts website. What are you waiting around here for? You're not getting any stronger sitting in front of your computer, you know.

"Great Chest Workout With Dips - Chest dips is an excellent way to build strength and put on muscle" copyright Great Chest Workouts 2010. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Privacy Policy

Great Chest Workouts is all about people feeling good about themselves. We know that everyone is concerned about their privacy so we will never release your name or email address to a third party. We are NOT responsible for the accuracy of anything submitted by members but we encourage everyone to use common sense when submitting anything to Great Chest Workouts. We believe in copyright protection and will not knowingly publish anything that infringes upon the rights of the owner of said intellectual property. In the event that someone feels that an article, etc. appearing on Great Chest Workouts was submitted without the permission of the owner, that article, etc. will be removed. Great Chest Workouts will not allow any objectionable or offensive material to appear on this site. This is a family-friendly site that promotes strength training.

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at webheadalpha1164@gmail.com.

At Great Chest Workouts, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Great Chest Workouts and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, Great Chest Workouts makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
Great Chest Workouts does use cookies to record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include Google Adsense. Google Adsense will be using interest based advertising. This will allow advertisers to show ads based on user's previous interactions with them, such as visits to advertiser website and also to reach users based on their interests (e.g. "sports enthusiast").

These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on Great Chest Workouts send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

Great Chest Workouts has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. Great Chest Workouts privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.


Terms of Use Statement

You understand and agree that the owners of this site shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or exemplary damages, including but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, data or other intangible losses (even if the owners of this site have been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from the use or the inability to use the product(s) and or service(s) or any misuse of the product(s) and or service(s) in a manner not in accordance with their intended use.



Great Chest Workouts does not provide medical advice of any kind and does not diagnose or treat any condition. If you have a medical question please consult your health care provider.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

What You Must Know About The Bench Press



What You Must Know If You Ever Hope To Develop A Great Chest


by

healthy_blogging

You must read this article to learn what it takes to develop a great chest. Lots of guys dream about having a powerful chest but they don't have a clue where to start. Without a plan in mind they flail around aimlessly in the gym, make absolutely no progress then give up. But I'll let you in on a secret. It's not a secret at all, actually, but it definitely is something people often overlook. Developing an attractive and strong physique is not very difficult if you're willing to put forth the time and effort that are needed to get the results you want. The thing is that some people don't want to accept this fact. Those people will always fail. But not you. You're reading this article because you want to look better and become stronger than you are right now. You've come to the right place. Here you'll learn about exercises that will strengthen, tone and build your chest muscles.

There are a lot of exercises that target the chest muscles with the short list including the bench press, pushup, chest dip, cable flye and the dumbbell flye. Today I'll discuss the flat bench press, including how you should do them and why they're so important.

Bench Press

This exercise is great for working the chest, triceps and shoulders. It is best performed with a barbell or dumbbells although you can use resistance machines if they are available. The downside of resistance machines is that the body will not be able to go through a full range of motion, which cuts down on the training of the muscles. The bench press is important because it builds upper body strength which comes in handy for certain contact sports and some day to day tasks. Without a strong upper body it will be impossible to develop healthy chest muscles. One of the most effective means to increase strength, build size and mass is to challenge the body to perform tasks to which it is not accustomed. This will cause a several things to happen. One, your central nervous system will be forced to recruit more and more muscle to perform the action. And second, the muscle fibers will experience microscopic tears that must be repaired. In order for the muscle to protect itself from further "damage" the fibers will increase in number, thereby increasing strength. Finally, growth hormones will be released into the bloodstream stimulating the muscles to grow larger.

One Rep Max

To prevent serious injury it is important to know the maximum amount of weight that you are able to safely lift for one complete repetition. This is known as your one rep maximum or one rep max. After you have learned what this amount is, you will perform exercises at a percentage (less than) of the one rep max. As you increase strength, you will gradually increase the percentage of weights lifted so as to approach your one rep max. Over time your one rep max should also increase as a result of your increased strength. In order to test your one rep max, ask someone in the gym to spot you. This person should be strong enough to help you lift the weight back onto the rack if it becomes too difficult for you to lift alone.

Here's a formula for calculating your one rep max:

1 RM = [ (r/30) +1 ] x W

where r = the number of repetitions performed and W = amount of weight lifted











As you increase the amount of weight lifted (intensity), it's unlikely that you'll be able to complete the same number of reps that you would have at a lower weight. This is known as a decrease in volume and it is perfectly natural. Even as you continually become stronger you will experience this. The important thing to remember is to not overdo it when you're working out, this will have a detrimental affect on your recovery (the time that is required for your muscles to heal). You should try for a three day split where you work your chest and arms one specific day, back and abdominal muscles on a different day, and legs and glutes on a third day. If you don't allow for enough recovery time you'll constantly be tearing up muscle before it has a chance to repair. This means you won't get any stronger or larger.

Nutrition is also important for increasing size and strength. Throughout the day eat small meals that consist of protein (lean meats, poultry or fish), healthy fats (nuts, olive oil, flaxseed oil, fish oil) and carbohydrates (vegetables and fruits). Food is the fuel that keeps your body running. But in order to get bigger and stronger, you must eat enough food to get basic metabolic demand. Make sure to stay hydrated, too, because when you're performing a hard workout, you'll lose a lot of water which will have an effect on your electrolyte levels.

If you've never worked out with weights your body may feel so sore that you'll get a urge to stop. But don't give up. All of your hard work will pay dividends.

This finishes the discussion bench press workout for beginners. Look forward to more workout routines on my Great Chest Workout website. So what are you waiting around for? Get out there and do something!

"Great Chest Workouts - What You Must Know If You Ever Hope To Develop A Great Chest" copyright 2010 Great Chest Workouts. All Rights Reserved.


Reference

One-repetition maximum - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_rep_max#Calculating_1RM