MONDAY CHEST

1. Set up on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor. Pull your shoulder blades together and lie back on the bench
2. The barbell should be grasped slightly outside of shoulder width
3. Lift the barbell off the rack and move it to the starting position above the middle of your chest
4. Lower the bar in a controlled manner until is just touches your chest
5. Raise the bar back up until your arms are straight and your elbows are locked
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps

This movement can also be performed on an incline or a decline bench. Incline will target the upper chest a little more, while decline will target the lower chest.

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand and lie down on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor
2. Lift the dumbbells over your chest with a slight bend in your arms – this is the starting position
3. Lower the dumbbells either side of your chest in an arc motion, maintaining the slight bend in the arms
4. Return the dumbbells to the starting position in a controlled fashion
5. Repeat

This movement can also be performed on an incline or decline bench, targeting the upper and lower chest respectively.

1. Set up by lying on a flat bench with your feet on the floor and your head at the end of the bench
2. Grab a single dumbbell and raise it over your chest, holding it with both hands
3. Keeping your arms and elbows as straight as possible, lower the weight in an arc over your head towards the ground
4. Return the dumbbell to the starting position above the chest in a controlled manner

1. Lie down on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor
2. Grasp the bar inside shoulder width, placing the hands approximately 14” apart
3. Raise the barbell over your body and move to the starting position above the middle of your chest
4. Lower the bar until it touches your chest lightly
5. Push the bar back up to the starting position, with your elbows locked and arms straight
6. Repeat for the target number reps

1. Stand between the parallel bars at the dipping station
2. Grip the handles of the bars and set up in the starting position with the arms straight and elbows locked
3. The elbows should remain close to the body and the nips should remain straight
4. Lower your body forward by bending your elbows, leading with the chest as you go down
5. Push yourself back up to the starting position

1. Set your bench up at a 45 degree angle
2. Grab a dumbbell with each hand and lie back on the bench with your feet flat on the ground
3. Raise the weights to shoulder height at either side of your chest with your palms facing each other
4. Extend the arms fully, locking out the elbows at the top of the movement
5. Return the weights to the position outside the chest in a controlled manner
6. Repeat

1. Set up a bench at a 45 degree angle between the cable towers
2. Grab the handles in both hands with the palms facing up
3. Set up with a slight bend in the elbows, squeeze the chest and pull the cables in an arc until the meet in the middle of the chest
4. Pause for a moment in the middle of the movement before returning to the starting position slowly

1. Set your bench to a slight decline, with the knees slightly higher than your head and your feet on the floor
2. Grab the bar with an extremely wide grip, with the hands close to the plates
3. Starting position is on the upper thighs
4. Raise the barbell up and over your head in an arc towards the floor
5. Return the bar to the starting position in a controlled manner

Are you as focused on your appearance as you are at building strength and mass? The best place to kill these two birds with one stone is to work on your biceps. The bicep is made of a long as well as a short head. These two heads work together to tackle movements such as curling and flexing, which results in your arms popping. 

Your biceps use a lot of space at the front of your arm. In fact, they’re the easiest part of your body to show off. Let’s take a look at these 5 bicep workouts that you can conveniently do at home as well as your workout place! 

Table of contents

• Bicep workouts for men and women
• Bicep workouts at the gym
• Bicep workouts at home
• Summary
• FAQ’s

Bicep workouts for men and women

All of the following exercises can be taken advantage of by both men and women to see maximum gains. You can incorporate all of the following workouts into your gym session. It’s a myth that men and women need to perform different workouts for bicep gains. All of the exercises below can be performed by both men and women for huge gains.

Bicep Workouts at the gym

The following workouts can be added to your workouts to take your biceps to the next level. You can incorporate them to your bicep workout at the gym regardless of if you’re a man or a woman. 

All of these exercises are bicep workouts with dumbbells. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Hammer curl 

The hammer curl is a very efficient exercise to tone the brachialis, brachioradialis, and biceps muscles which results in a complete upper arm workout.

• Start by standing straight and holding a dumbbell in each hand. Make sure your palms face your body. In addition to this, your arms should be extended and parallel to your torso while you’re standing.
• Keep your upper arm stationary and then move the dumbbell upwards by contracting the biceps and bending the elbows. Move until the head of the dumbbell is in line with your shoulder. 
• For maximum gains, hold this contraction for a moment and then return to the starting position in a smooth motion.
•  You can do 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps. 

2. Concentration curl

The concentration curl is a fantastic exercise to add to your workout session. This exercise is an isolation movement that works the bicep muscle completely.

• Begin this exercise by sitting on a bench while positioning your legs in a wide stance. Place the elbow inside of your thighs, and pick up a dumbbell with underhand grip.
• Curl the dumbbell by contracting your biceps until they’re in level with your shoulder. Remember to only move your forearm and not the upper arm.
• Hold for a moment and then return to your starting position. Remember to not allow momentum to control the weight while you’re lowering it. Lower the weight in a controlled motion.
• You can do 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps. Remember to follow the same rules to train your other arm. For maximum gains, make sure to keep the elbows tucked in against your thighs  during the entire movement.

3. Zottman Curl

The zottman curl is a fantastic exercise which targets your forearms as well as your biceps. 

• Begin by standing straight. Next, take a dumbbell in each hand and hold them so that your palms face away from your body. Your elbows must be close to your body for the entirety of this exercise.
• Lift the weights while keeping your upper arms in place until the dumbbells reach the line of your shoulders. Make sure your palms face upwards at the end of this movement.
• Hold the contraction and rotate your wrists so that your palms face downwards.
• Pause for a moment and then return to your starting position.
• It’s important that you follow this exercise with the correct form and perform it in a smooth motion as you can seriously injure yourself if you perform this exercise incorrectly. You can do 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps. 

How much should you lift?

The weight you should lift depends on how many repetitions you can make with the weight you’re using. You want to do just enough reps to not risk injury. You also want to make sure that the amount of repetitions you do doesn’t make the exercise a test of endurance. This is why a repetition range of 8 to 12 repetitions is excellent. In order to find out the weight of the object that you should use, do a single set of 12 repetitions.

• Is the weight too light? This means that you won’t get much benefits from using the weight.
• Is the weight too heavy? If you’re struggling to make even 6-8 repetitions, the weight is too heavy. You should switch to a lighter weight.
• If the first 6-8 repetitions aren’t too challenging but you find subsequent repetitions getting harder, you’ve found the perfect weight.

Bicep workouts at home

If you don’t have a fancy gym membership, don’t worry. You can get a killer bicep workout at home with similar results than if you had gone to the gym. If you don’t have the money to buy dumbbells, you can make your own. You can use makeshift weights such as canned goods from your pantry, heavy books, plastic water bottles, bags of rice or socks filled with pea gravel. The best part about these weights is that you can modify them to increase the weight as and when you need to. The following exercises can be performed by both men and women. 

1. Bicep curls with your legs

All that this exercise needs, is a chair. 

• Sit down and use your right hand to reach under your left thigh. Hold the leg under the knee joint with your palm facing up.
• Pull the leg up as much as you can. You can make this exercise very effective by ignoring  the leg muscles. Do not let your leg muscles help you with the lift.
• This exercise will become easier with time. You can maintain resistance by forcing your leg muscles to push against the hand while trying to lift your leg up. 
• Do 2- 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions on each side.

This exercise is simple and effective. The best part about it is that it can be done everywhere. If you lead a busy life and find yourself travelling a lot, this exercise is perfect for you

2. Towel Bicep Curls

• Take a towel and slip it through the top of a backpack. Grip the towel with each arm and slowly curl your backpack up. 
• Curl your arms as you move up through the movement.
• Rotate your arms so that your arms are facing your shoulders at the top position.

1. Leg Press:

Main Areas Targeted:

• Quadriceps (emphasized with feet lower on platform and closer together), glutes and hamstrings (emphasized with feet higher and wider on platform)

How-To:

• Sit squarely in the leg press machine and place your feet shoulder-width apart on the sled.
• Keeping your chest up and lower back pressed into the pad, carefully unlatch the sled from the safeties.
• Bend your knees to lower the platform, stopping before your glutes lift off the pad.
• From there, powerfully extend your knees to press the weight up (but don’t lock them out at the top).

2. Step-Up:

Main Areas Targeted:

• Quadriceps, glutes

How-To:

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of a knee- to hip-high step, bench or platform.
• Starting with your feet in a shoulder-width stance, step forward with one leg onto the platform and drive through that thigh to propel your body upward.
• Bring your trailing leg up and stand atop the platform, then step back with either leg to return to the floor.
• You can either repeat with the same leading leg for all reps and then switch or alternate your lead leg from step to step.

3. Pistol Squat:

Main Areas Targeted:

• Quads, hamstrings, glutes

How-To:

• Begin in a standing position.
• Extend one leg straight out in front of you, balancing on your other foot.
• From here, squat all the way down by lowering your hips and glutes straight toward the floor, bending your knee until your working thigh is below parallel.
• At the bottom, your nonworking leg and arms will be out in front of you for balance with your planted foot flat on the floor.
• Drive through that heel to return to a standing position, making sure to never let that heel come up as you rep.

4. Walking Lunge:

Main Areas Targeted:

• Quads, hams, glutes

How-To:

• Holding dumbbells in each hand, step forward with one foot.
• Bend both knees to lower your torso toward the floor, making sure your front knee doesn’t pass your toes at the bottommost position.
• Stop just short of your rear knee touching the floor, then drive through the heel of your front foot while bringing your rear leg forward until you return to a standing position.
• Then step with the opposite leg into a lunge, repeating the pattern.
• Continue alternating down the floor.

5. Bulgarian Split Squat:

Main Areas Targeted:

• Quadriceps, glutes

How-To:

• Holding a dumbbell in each hand, step forward with one foot and rest your rear foot on an elevated platform or bench, top of the foot facing down.
• Bend your front knee to lower yourself, making sure that knee doesn’t track out ahead of your toes. (If it does, take a longer step out from the platform.)
• When your knee joint forms at least a 90-degree angle, reverse the motion, driving through the heel of your forward foot to return to standing.
• Do not forcefully lock out the knee.

6. Hack Squat:

Main Areas Targeted:

• Quads and glutes primarily, hamstrings secondarily

How-To:

• Step inside a hack squat machine, placing your shoulders and back against the pads.
• Set your feet at mid-platform just inside shoulder width, keeping your feet flat throughout the exercise.
• With your chest up and core tight, unhook the safeties and slowly lower yourself, stopping when your thighs are just past parallel to the platform.
• From here, powerfully press upward to the start position, keeping your knees bent slightly at the top to protect them from hyperextension.

7. Romanian Deadlift:

Main Areas Targeted: 

• Hamstrings

How-To: 

• Stand upright holding a barbell in front of your upper thighs with an overhand grip.
• Place your feet shoulder-width apart and slightly bend your knees.
• With your chest up, arms straight and core tight to maintain the natural arch in your low back, lean forward from your hips, pushing them rearward until your torso is roughly parallel to the floor or until you feel a good stretch in your hamstrings.
• At the bottom, keep your back flat and head neutral.
• The bar should be very close to or in contact with your legs throughout.
• Flex your hamstrings and glutes to reverse the motion, bringing the bar back to the start position.

8. Front Squat:

Main Areas Targeted:

• Emphasis on quads, plus glutes, hamstrings, calves and core

How-To:

• Set the pegs in a power rack just at or below mid-chest, and place the safety bars at a level between your hips and knees.
• Step up to the bar, crossing your arms to build a shelf to cradle it at your front delts and upper chest.
• Keep your chest up, lower back and abs tight, and eyes forward as you step back into a shoulder-width stance.
• Bend your knees and hips as if sitting in a chair until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor, then reverse direction by driving through your heels and pressing your hips forward to return to standing.

Think Working Out And Getting In Shape Requires Spending Hours In The Gym Each Day? It Doesn’t … Discover How To Quickly Melt Your Extra Fat, Build Muscle, And Get In The Best Shape Of Your Life With Short Workouts That Take Just Minutes!’

How to Melt Fat and Optimize Performance With HIIT Workouts Think working out has to be hard? Think again! HIIT workouts appear to do the impossible by helping you to burn more calories than a 40-minute run in a quarter of that time! 

Better yet, they also build muscle, improve athletic performance and give you more energy. They’ve been transforming the lives of people all around the world and if you want to achieve one of those ‘cover model physiques’ then this is probably just what you’re looking for.

Ready to get started with the most highly effective and efficient workouts on the planet? Then let’s get started! Along the way, we’ll discover that there’s a lot more to HIIT than just the basic alternating speeds; you’ll learn some advanced techniques like cardio acceleration, fartlek training, speed drills, concurrent training, metcon, tabata, finishers and more.

Below are the chapters that you are about to explore:

1: Cardio Training, Then and Now

2: The Science of HIIT, Understanding Your Body So You Can Get More Out of It

3: How to Start HIIT Training With Running

4: Tips for Better HIIT Results

5: Concurrent Training and Using Kettlebells

6: Advanced HIIT Protocols – Tabata, MetCon and Cardio Acceleration

7: Creating Whole-Body Circuit Routines

Discover How To Start Melting Fat And Transforming Your Body EVEN FASTER!

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training and is currently one of the most popular health trends to hit the industry.

The basic idea behind HIIT is simple: you alternate between periods of high intensity, such as sprinting, and periods of lower intensity such as jogging. This is a form of training that allows us to burn more calories and enjoy better health benefits in a shorter space of time compared with many other types of training.

But while HIIT is a great tool for getting into shape, it’s important to recognize that it’s only as useful as the way in which you approach it. 

There are right and wrong ways to perform HIIT and a lot of people make the mistake of getting so excited with this new type of training that they forget to approach it in a structured and well thought-through manner.

In this guide then, we will be looking in detail at how you can go about making an amazing HIIT home workout that will help you to both build muscle and burn fat. 

You will see how to transform your body using this incredible form of training and you will learn some incredibly powerful strategies for getting even more from it.Who this course is for:

• Anyone who wants to get into a fitness routine at home
• Anyone who is currently struggling to have time for exercise
• Anyone who wants to feel better about their body image and mental health
• Anyone who struggles to motivate themselves into a fitness routine – we are going to give you the tools to hold yourself accountable and implement that change!
• Anyone who needs help implementing a fitness plan on their own

Requirements

• You should be fit and well enough to attend an exercise class – if you are unsure then please speak to your doctor first before starting this course.

Advertisements

Occasionally, some of your visitors may see an advertisement here,

as well as a Privacy & Cookies banner at the bottom of the page.

You can hide ads completely by upgrading to one of our paid plans.

The triceps may not have the same cultural cache as their cousins on the other side of the humerus, but in the strength world, they’re just as important—if not more so! Whether you’re a bodybuilder or just someone looking to get stronger in your presses, it’s worth your time to add some size to the back of your arms.

You can put together a hundred different triceps routines by fine-tuning variables like exercise choice and order, rep ranges, intensity, volume, and rest periods. But rather than making you sit down to try and figure all of that out, I’ve done the work for you here with six straightforward and effective triceps workouts.

Each is a bit different from the others based on your training experience and goals. Each one includes movements from the large family of triceps exercises—close-grip bench presses and dips, skullcrushers, press-downs, overhead extensions, and kick-backs—that focus on one or more of the three heads (lateral, long, and medial). Of course, you can’t isolate a particular head, but you can shift the focus to some degree with changes in hand and body position.

Pick a routine you like, try it for 4-8 weeks wherever it makes sense in your split, then go back to your regular workout or try another from the list.

But don’t forget that you need more than just a great triceps workout to build serious arms! Check out the Muscle-Building Workout Plans in Bodybuilding.com BodyFit Elite to get a total-body program that puts the principles of these workouts into action. The plans are created by professionals and offer detailed training and nutritional assistance for any lifter looking to add overall muscle mass and strength.

Goal 1: Overall Triceps Mass

Just because you’re training arms doesn’t mean your approach to building mass—like you do with, chest, legs, back, or shoulders—should change. Start with the most difficult moves with which you can push the heaviest weights.

Don’t even think about looking toward the cable press-down station. As I’ve often said, multijoint exercises in which more than a single set of joints are at work allow you to use greater loads. With triceps, it’s a pretty short list, including dips (machine dips, bench dips, weighted parallel-bar dips) and close-grip bench presses. With the latter, if balance is too difficult, try it on the Smith machine.

Seated Machine Dip

Besides starting with a multijoint exercise, there are a few other considerations when putting together your routine. Because the triceps’ long head (which sits just above the medial head) attaches above the shoulder joint as well as at the elbow, you’ll need to raise your upper arms completely overhead to fully recruit it into the motion. A muscle that isn’t fully stretched isn’t capable of contracting as strongly.

For maximal long-head development, always include some kind of arms-overhead movement in your routine. Most arms-by-your-sides moves hit the outermost lateral head most strongly, so you’ll want to include one of those exercises as well.

To better isolate the triceps and reduce the contribution from your deltoids and pecs, don’t allow your elbows to flare out during elbow-extension moves. This is true for all triceps exercises. Keep those elbows as tight to your sides as you can.

Tips

• Warm-up sets aren’t included; do as many as you need, but never take warm-ups to muscle failure.
• Choose a weight that allows you to reach muscle failure by the target rep listed.
• Go heavy on your first working set (first two sets of the first two exercises), and lighten the weight for slightly higher reps on successive sets.
• If you have a spotter, do a few forced reps on your heaviest sets, which are your first two sets. If you don’t have a partner, train as close to muscle failure as possible, and perform a dropset on your last set of each exercise.

Your back muscles play a key role in your everyday movement and posture, but they’re especially important during exercise when you need the back’s stability muscles to be able to perform the movements.

As Lisa Brownlee, GOLD’S FIT® head coach, says, “If you want to be able to move, it starts with your back. If it begins to fail, everything else will have to work twice as hard.”

Incorporating our beginner back workout into your fitness routine is vital and will set you up for success with other workouts. “If you want to be able to physically hold and pick up a heavy weight, you have to have your back there to stabilize it,” Brownlee says.

The equipment

Here are the items and machines at the gym that you’ll use in this workout:

• Resistance bands: Elastic bands, usually with handles at each end, used for strength training.

• Seated row machine: A resistance machine that replicates the action of water rowing. Used by sitting down and pulling the cables back toward your sides. (See Resistance Machines Progression: Know the Basics.)

• Lat machine: A resistance machine with a seat and a bar to pull down, which helps work several areas of the back at one time.

• Suspension trainers: Two bands that are affixed to the wall with handles at the loose end.

• Foam rollers: A foam tube used to give yourself a deep tissue massage after a strenuous workout.

Don’t know where to find the equipment? Ask a Gold’s Gym Trainer who can help.

The warmup

Get the blood flowing to your back muscles with these movements. Brownlee recommends alternating moves after each set, and to remember that, as a beginner, your grip strength might not be where it should be — so don’t be deterred if your forearm muscles get tired the first few times. It’ll take a little more time to build them up.

Start by lying on your back with your lower back flat and knees bent. Hold a dumbbell at its head, making a triangle shape with your arms above your chest. Bring your arms back above your head, keeping elbows slightly bent, and touch the dumbbell to the floor — or as far as you can while keeping your spine on the ground. Then, pull back to above your chest.

Tip: “You should feel the muscles working underneath your armpits and maybe a little bit in your chest,” says Brownlee.

The goal: Three sets of 12 to 15.

Seated cable row

Using a seated row machine, sit down while gripping the cables in each hand, with your palms facing each other and knees slightly bent. Keep your back flat while slightly leaning back from your hips to keep your core tight and engaged. With your arms fully extended, pull each cable to its respective side while squeezing your shoulder blades into your spine.

Tip: You should feel the muscles between the shoulder blades pinching, as well as the muscles below your shoulder blades tightening. If you feel your neck tightening, that’s a sign you’re executing this move incorrectly.

The goal: Three sets of 12 to 15.

Seated cable lat pulldown

Sit at a lat machine with your feet flat on the floor and adjust the leg pad to rest on top of your legs. Keeping your hands above your shoulders, create a closed grip on the bar with your palms facing away from you. Pull your elbows toward the ground. As the bar comes down, slightly lean back from the hips with your back straight.

If you feel the muscles below your shoulder blades and armpits tightening, that’s a sign you’re doing the move correctly. If you’re not, you may feel tightness in the front of your shoulders or next to your neck — that’s when you should drop the weight.

The goal: Three sets of 12 to 15.

High elbow row

Holding the suspension trainers, lean back so your body is at a slight angle to the ground with your arms straight and palms facing down. This should feel like you’re holding your body weight up. Next, pull with your arms until your elbows are in line with your back. Pause, and go back to starting position. You should feel this in your shoulder blades and the backs of the shoulders, not your neck.

Tip: “To make this move harder, move your feet forward,” says Brownlee. “To make it easier, move your feet back.”

The goal: Three sets of 12 to 15.

The cool down

Loosen up tight muscles while keeping the blood flowing with these next two moves.

Foam roll

Lie back on the foam roller so it’s across your shoulder blades. Place your hands behind your head, allowing your head to relax. Keep your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, hips in the air and elbows pointed to the sky. Push with your legs to move your body over the roller, stopping when it reaches the bottom of your ribs and before the base of your neck touches the ground. Switch sides.

The goal: One to two minutes.

Stretch

Keeping it straight, take your right arm and move it across your body. Use your left arm to hold your elbow to your chest. Switch sides.

“You should feel this stretch across the upper portion of your back, primarily the back of your shoulder all the way across your shoulder blades,” says Brownlee.