Rant and Tip for July 22, 2011

I went for a run yesterday at noon in the highest heat of the day. I would not suggest most people do this. However, the heat does not seem to bother me. The funny thing was when I got back to the gym I was not dripping in sweat. After running outside I jumped on the elliptical machine and went for another 10 minutes. I did a mile in 8.5 minutes and the last minute and a half was cool down. I was dripping after that. The only thing I can figure is that between the breeze created while running outside and the sun beating down, the sweat was evaporating very quickly. It was 100 degrees outside.

On today’s schedule for the current exercise schedule that some of you follow, you will be working the upper arms. Now keeping in mind that your arms get a workout during your back, shoulder and chest days this day is a little extra for them. As I look at the exercises I have set up for today it strikes me that I need to add some forearm work. Well that will have to be another day.

I would like to address the tricep. The tricep is made up of 3 muscles. Hence, the prefix tri in the name. These muscles are the medial head, lateral head, and the long head. The tricep aids in extending the arm and when contracted creates a horseshoe shape on the backside of the arm. As I am sure you already know the bicep is made up of 2 muscles, the biceps brachial and the brachialis. The bicep helps is bending the arm at the elbow. There is another muscle that extends from the base the bicep to the forearm. This is the brachioradialis. I think I have spent enough on the anatomy of the arms for today. One of reference materials I use is Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Declavier.

Have a great workout!

 

Tip:

When curling you should take in consideration the angle at which you elbow leads your forearm. On many people when you hang your arms at your side with your palms facing up, the arm leads away from the body. For those people and easy curl bar will work much better than a straight bar. If a straight bar is used by this person it can cause pain in the wrist. If curling with dumbbells this is not a problem.