28 January, 2008
Ask the coach: Biceps curl
The biceps are the muscles on the front of the arm above the elbow. Women spend a lot of time working the muscles of the back of the arm, but they must balance this out by using the front of the arms. This will help stabilise the elbow joint and reduce elbow and wrist pain when you are playing sports such as tennis and golf.
Here are some tips on exercises for these muscles:
1.Pick two dumbbells and place your arms and hands by your side, arms straight and wrists facing forward. Keeping your elbows pinned by your side, raise your hand up towards your shoulder, squeezing the muscle on the front of your arm. Lower back to the starting position.
2. You can alternate training sessions by changing your hand positions. By placing your arms by your side with your thumbs facing forward you will change the muscles you use. Keep your elbows as before -- as if you were about to hit a hammer. This is referred to as a hammer curl.
3. These exercises can be performed seated or standing. Seated puts more focus into the muscles you want to use.
4. The biceps can be trained using a barbell or a pulley. Change every four to six workouts so that you are challenged.
5. It's a myth that women will develop huge arms, so choose a weight that challenges you.
Repetitions: 10 to 12, but vary every six workouts for optimal results.
Sets: Start with 2 and increase to 4.
Tempo: Lower in 3 seconds, bend the elbows in 1 second and repeat.
Rest: 60 seconds, then repeat exercise.