WORKOUTS
Muscle-Building 12-Week Workout: Week 3
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DAY 5: STRENGTH AND FORM - PUSH/PULL EXERCISES FOR ARMS
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Week 1 Workouts
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Week 3 Workouts
Week 4 Workouts
Week 5 Workouts
Week 6 Workouts
Week 7 Workouts
Week 8 Workouts
Week 9 Workouts
Week 10 Workouts
Week 11 Workouts
Week 12 Workouts
New! View Other Members Who Are Tracking Their Workout Progress
Muscle-Building Workout Participants Forum
Workout Program Overview
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are Supersets?
Week 1 Workouts
Week 2 Workouts
Week 3 Workouts
Week 4 Workouts
Week 5 Workouts
Week 6 Workouts
Week 7 Workouts
Week 8 Workouts
Week 9 Workouts
Week 10 Workouts
Week 11 Workouts
Week 12 Workouts
| WEEK 3, DAY 5 EXERCISE VIDEO DEMOS |
| WORKOUT | |||||||||||
| Superset | Exercise | Muscles | Weight (Goal) | Set 1 Reps (Goal) | Set 1 Reps (Actual) | Set 2 Reps (Goal) | Set 2 Reps (Actual) | Set 3 Reps (Goal) | Set 3 Reps (Actual) | Set 4 Reps (Goal) | Set 4 Reps (Actual) |
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Smith Machine Inverted Pull-ups | Back (lats and traps) | N/A | 10 | 10 | 10 | N/A | N/A | |||
| S | Close-Grip Push-ups | Triceps, Chest, Shoulders (front deltoids) | N/A | 15 | 15 | 15 | N/A | N/A | |||
| Standing Barbell Curls | Biceps, Forearms | Rep Max | 16 | 12 | 12 | 10 | |||||
| Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curls | Biceps | Rep Max | 16 | 12 | 12 | 10 | |||||
| Single-Arm Alternating Dumbbell Curls | Biceps | Rep Max | 12 each arm | 12 each arm | 12 each arm | 12 each arm | |||||
| Dumbbell 21 Curls | Biceps | Rep Max | 21 | 21 | 21 | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Triceps Bench Dips with Feet on Floor | Triceps | N/A | 25 | 25 | 20 | 18 | |||||
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Cable Triceps Bar Press-Downs | Triceps | Rep Max | 20 | 16 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| S | Cable Triceps Bar Pull-Downs | Triceps | Rep Max | Max out | Max out | Max out | Max out | ||||
| Begin Superset | |||||||||||
| S | Cable Rope Power Overhead Skull Crushers | Triceps | Rep Max | 16 | 16 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| S | Triceps Single-Arm Kickbacks | Triceps | Rep Max | 16 each arm | 16 each arm | 10 each arm | 10 each arm | ||||
| DAY 5 CARDIO TRAINING | |||||||||||
| Exercise | Time | Overview | |||||||||
| Bike or Treadmill | 30 Minutes | Do 30 minutes light biking on a spin/indoor bike or 30 minutes light jogging on a treadmill. Get your heart rate up to a moderate level. | |||||||||
| EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS IN BRIEF | |
| Exercise | Overview |
| Smith Machine Inverted Pull-ups | Set the Smith machine bar so that it is on the fourth, fifth, or sixth height setting (the bar height will be below your chest height and above your belly button), depending on your individual height relative to the Smith machine. With your feet on the floor in a wide stance in front of the Smith machine, position your upper body underneath the bar of the Smith machine, holding the bar a little wider than shoulder-width apart with your palms facing down. Hang from the bar with your arms extended fully, and allow only the heels of your feet to touch the floor. Keep your body straight—don't let your butt sag down). Lift your upper body up until your chest touches the bar. Focus on retracting your shoulder blades down and back and opening up your chest in order to maintain proper posture and to activate your lower/middle traps. Reverse the motion and lower yourself down until you are back at the starting position. |
| Close-Grip Push-ups | Position yourself on the floor in a prone position (face down) with your legs together and extended straight behind you, your elbows in close to your body, and your hands directly underneath your shoulders. Support yourself on your toes and your hands, with your palms down on the ground. Your arms should be straight but without locked elbows. Your spine should be neutral with no arch. Slowly bend your arms and descend toward the floor. Keep your neck in line with your spine throughout the movement; do not jut your chin out towards the floor at the bottom of the movement. Stop when your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. Reverse position and push back up to the starting position. Do not lock your elbows at the top of the movement. Without pausing at the top, immediately descend into your next rep. |
| Standing Barbell Curls | Stand with a barbell held in front of you so that your palms are facing away from your body. Hold your elbows in front of your ribs. Your hands should be positioned on the bar directly in front of your shoulders so that your upper arms are touching your ribs. Curl the bar up toward your chest. Be careful to engage your core so that you do not swing your body. When you have brought the bar up so that you fully flex the bicep (while keeping your wrists straight), reverse the motion and bring the bar slowly back down to the starting position. |
| Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curls | Sit on the short end of a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with your palms facing inward in an easy, open-handed grip. Hold your elbows in front of your ribs; this will help keep the biceps muscle engaged throughout the movement, and will prevent you from inadvertently swinging your body to lift the weight. Next, keep your upper arms stationary and curl both weights up at the same time until you fully flex the muscle. Use a scooping motion as you begin lifting in order to lengthen the muscles before starting flexion. Do not alternate the weights. Keep your core engaged, your wrists straight, and your elbows in front of your ribs throughout the movement. At the top of the lift, flex your biceps. When you have reached the top of the movement, reverse the motion and bring the weights slowly back down to the starting position, using your biceps to resist the weight as you lower the dumbbells. Be sure to keep your biceps engaged as you bring the weights back down. Do not fully lock your elbow at the bottom of the movement, and do not rest&$#8212;begin your next curl immediately. |
| Single-Arm Alternating Dumbbell Curls | Stand upright with feet about hip-width apart and dumbbells held in each hand at your sides with your palms facing up and dumbbells held in an easy, open-handed grip. Hold your elbows in front of your ribs. Next, keep your upper arm stationary and shoulders retracted as you do a full bicep curl with one arm. Begin the curl with a scooping motion to lengthen the muscle before flexion. Keep your elbow in front of your ribs as you bring your hand up toward your shoulder. Flex your bicep fully at the top of the movement. From the top of the curl, reverse direction and begin lowering the weight back down, resisting the weight with your biceps as you lower the dumbbell. As you begin lowering that arm from the top of your curl, start curling with the other arm, such that the hands pass each other at the midpoint of the curls, one going up and the other going down. |
| Dumbbell 21 Curls | Stand upright with dumbbells held in each hand at your sides and your palms facing forward. Keep your upper arms at your side throughout the exercise. Hold your elbows in front of your ribs; this will help keep the biceps muscle engaged throughout the movement, and will prevent you from inadvertently swinging your body to lift the weight. Next, use a scooping motion to begin as you lift the dumbbells up together until you are halfway through a full bicep curl, pause, then lower your arms back to starting position. Flex your bicep at the top of the movement, and resist the weight all the way down. Don't fully unlock your elbow at bottom of movement. Try your best to never allow your bicep to rest at top or bottom of any of the three series of movements. Do a total of seven of these lower-half bicep curls. After you have finished seven of the lower-half bicep curls, you are ready to move on to upper-half biceps curls. Lift the dumbbells up to a starting point that is halfway through a full range bicep curl, with your elbows at a 90-degree angle and the dumbbells held out in front of you. Curl the dumbbells up together to the top of a bicep curl, but lower down only until your elbows are back at the 90-degree angle. Again, flex your bicep at the top of the movement, and resist the weight all the way down. Do a total of seven of these upper-half biceps curls. After you have finished seven of the upper-half bicep curls, lower the weights to the original starting position, with the dumbbells held in each hand at your sides and your palms facing inward. Lift the dumbbells up together and do seven full range of motion biceps curls. When you have finished seven of these curls, you have completed one set of hammer 21 curls. |
| Triceps Bench Dips with Feet on Floor | Sit on the long edge of a flat bench, with your hands at your sides on the bench you're sitting on and your fingers facing away from you. Place your feet on the floor in front of you so your knees are a little more than a right angle. The smaller the angle, the easier the exercise will be. Grip the bench with your fingers and tuck your chin down a bit toward your chest. Engage your arms and lift yourself off the bench so that you are being held up by your hands on one bench and the heels of your feet. Next, lean your upper body forward slightly and slowly lower your butt down so that it goes a little beneath the bench you are sitting on. You should feel the stretch and work in your triceps as you lower diagonally down. When you reach the bottom of the dip, reverse the motion and push your body back up to starting position. When you reach the starting position you have completed one repetition. |
| Cable Triceps Bar Press-Downs | Attach a bent tricep bar to the upper connection of a cable machine. Stand in front of the cable machine with your legs in a slight scissor position so that one leg is stepped slightly forward and the other leg is stepped slightly back. Hold the bar up at chest level in both hands with your palms down and your pinkies are on the outside bend of the bar. Your elbows should be bent and held in at your sides. Press the bar down toward your thighs, keeping your elbows in as you descend. At the bottom of the movement, reverse position and bring the bar back up to starting position. At the top of the movement, your elbows should come up just past a 90-degree angle. |
| Cable Triceps Bar Pull-Downs | Attach a bent bar to the upper connection of a cable machine. Stand in front of the cable machine with your legs in a slight scissor position so that one leg is stepped slightly forward and the other leg is stepped slightly back. Hold the bar up at chest level in both hands with your palms up, positioned so that your pinkies are resting in each bend of the bar. Your elbows should be bent and held in at your sides. Next, use your triceps to pull the bar down toward your thighs. Keep the top half of your arms steady, elbows in close to your body, and wrists stable as you descend to concentrate the work in the triceps. When your arms are fully extended and the bar is down in front of your thighs, reverse motion and bring the bar back up to starting position. |
| Cable Rope Power Overhead Skull Crushers | Attach a double-handled rope attachment to the high setting on a cable machine. Take the handles in each hand and take them overhead as you turn around, so that you end up with your back to the machine and the rope handles in each hand behind your neck. Stand tall with your elbows bent but held high, and your hands together. Next, straighten your elbows to bring your hands straight up into the air, ending with your arms fully extended above you and slightly in front of vertical. Bend your elbows to return your hands to the starting position, letting your triceps stretch at the bottom of your movement. |
| Triceps Single-Arm Kickbacks | Stand with your legs hip-width apart and staggered so that your right leg is slightly in front of you and your left leg is slightly behind you. Holding a dumbbell in your left hand, with your elbow bent high above your back and your hand facing in toward your waist, lean your upper body forward slightly and rest your right hand on your right thigh for support and balance. Your back should be flat, your neck in line with your spine, and your knees slightly bent. Keeping your left elbow high above the line of your back, extend your elbow so that you straighten your arm. Your hand should remain in the same orientation throughout the movement, with palm facing inward. From the extended position, bend your elbow again to return to the starting position. Do a full set of kickbacks with your left arm, and then switch arms and legs and do another set of kickbacks with your right arm. |
| EXERCISE IMAGES |
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Photo Credit: Nicolas Smith
