Archive for the ‘fitness’ tag
Arm Exercises For Women-What NOT To Do
Small deviations in technique can really add up when doing exercises for your arms. Over the long run, said deviations can really put a dent in your progress and potentially cause serious injury.
Now most women probably aren?t even conscious of the small mistakes they?re making in the gym. After all, showing up is the biggest part of the battle. So perfecting the technique of each arm exercise probably takes second place.
Well, I don?t recommend getting too anal here. However, avoiding the most common mistakes will give you the biggest bang for your buck while not making your arm workouts a mechanistic nightmare.
So without further ado, here are some common errors to avoid when doing arm exercises for women:
1. Heave hoeing the weight up. This is most common with barbell curls and all its variations. The problem? It places a lot of stress on your lower back and takes stress off of your biceps. Not a good thing if you want fast arm toning.
2. Letting the shoulders come up. Most common with press downs for the triceps, although some women also do this when performing curls. What?s the big deal? When you elevate the shoulders, you work your trapezius (neck) muscles, not your arm muscles. And do you really want a big neck?
3. Allowing the elbows to shift around. Probably the most common error, letting the elbows shift takes all the stress of your arms?not a good thing if you want rapid arm toning. It can also lead to some shoulder impingement issues in the long run. So keep your elbows locked in place!
4. Not placing weight on the heels. You should use the heels of your feet for support. This will keep you much more stable and will allow you to lift much more weight. You?re more likely to keep lower back injuries at bay by using this technique.
Be conscious of the above mistakes when exercising your arms and do your best to avoid them. However, please do not become so self conscious about your form that you don?t go 100%. Try hard to maintain good form, but don?t obsess over it. After all, you should enjoy your arm workouts!
