The barbell row is often considered one of the most fundamental exercises, right up there with the Big Three powerlifts — squat, bench press, and deadlift — because it’s a comprehensive movement for building a base of size and strength. It helps you build a thicker, wider, stronger back while also developing a bigger, stronger set of arms. Here’s how to get the most from this back-training staple.

• How to Do the Barbell Row
• Barbell Row Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Barbell Row
• Muscles Worked by the Barbell Row
• Who Should Do the Barbell Row
• How to Program the Barbell Row
• Barbell Row Variations
• Barbell Row Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Barbell Row

The bent-over barbell row can be a very simple exercise to set up and perform. All you need is a barbell, some weight plates, and a floor. Accessories like lifting straps to support your grip strength or a lifting belt to provide additional lower back support aren’t always required.

Master the exercise itself, and then consider adding equipment depending on your specific needs and requirements.

Step 1 — Get Into the Starting Position

Walk up to a loaded barbell and position your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly inside hip-width. The bar should be generally over the middle of your feet. If you are quite tall, you may be more comfortable with the bar positioned against your shins.

Push your hips back and bend at the waist. Keep your back straight and your knees slightly bent. Hold the barbell with an overhand (palms down) grip just outside of your shins. Pull your shoulders back and feel tension in your lats (back muscles) as you prepare to take control over the weight. Keep your head in a neutral position — not looking at the ceiling or tucking your chin down.

Straighten your legs and stand up straight, much like you would in a deadlift. From the locked out position, bend your legs slightly and hinge at your hips until your upper body is slightly above parallel to the ground. Allow the barbell to hang near your legs with your arms extended.

Form Tip: Keep your eyes fixed on a spot roughly one to two meters (three to six feet) in front of you. This will help you maintain a stable body position, encourage consistent bar position between each rep, and reduce the risk of injury due to technical failure.

Step 2 — Pull the Weight Up 

With the bar in a dead-hang position, drive your elbows up towards your hips. The barbell should reach your belly button. Once you get into the top position, focus on your shoulder blades squeezing together and feeling a hard contraction in your back musculature.

Your upper body should remain mostly horizontal throughout the rep. Avoid using your legs to “jumpstart” the weight and don’t allow your torso to drop down to meet the barbell.

Form Tip: It is important to recognize when you begin sacrificing technique for heavier weight. Key indicators that you’ve gone too heavy include: your elbows flaring out to the sides, the bar no longer reaching your belly button, or feeling extra pressure through your lower back which prevents you from holding a strong, stable torso position.

Step 3 — Lower the Weight to Stretch

Once you have completed the concentric (lifting) portion of the movement, remain in a strong and stable position while lowering the barbell under control. Don’t allow the bar to free fall into the bottom position.

Straighten your arms and allow your shoulder blades to release from the retracted position. Feel your back musculature lengthening until your arms are fully extended.

Form Tip: Some lifters will lower the barbell too quickly and not pay attention to the bar path or muscular control. Focus on lowering the barbell in the exact same bar path as you did when lifting it. This will make sure each rep is the same and allow you to maintain tension on the back muscles while reducing the risk of injury.

Barbell Row Mistakes to Avoid

The barbell row may seem simple on paper, but you can still very easily make mistakes that may hinder your progress and training. Below are two of the most common mistakes to avoid.

Lifting with Your Arms

Many beginner lifters quickly form the habit of pulling the barbell up using their arms more than their back muscles. Sure, you can’t perform a row without using your arms at all, but proper muscle contractions should emphasize the larger back muscles more significantly than the relatively smaller muscles of the arms.

If you continue activating your arms first, as the weight increases, your arms will take over the movement and your back will be under-recruited simply because you will not have spent time focusing on feeling the back muscles contracting.

Avoid It: It is important to focus on feeling your back muscles stretch and contract. This can boost the mind-muscle connection, which has been shown to improve results. (1) If you actively drive your elbows into your hips, instead of focusing on your hands pulling the weight up, you can emphasize the lats.

Standing Too Upright 

The barbell row requires you to be set in a bent-over position, or what is referred to as a “hinged position.” While your body doesn’t need to form a strict 90-degree angle, it’s imperative that you maintain some sort of stable and predominantly horizontal angle to perform the barbell row effectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On top of this, some trainees will use a weight that far exceeds their good-form lifting capabilities. This can lead to remaining too upright in order to counterbalance the weight, and the movement becomes more of a shrug than a row. These two factors often work hand in hand, since excessive weight and a lack of hinge stability will lead to being too upright.

Avoid It: If you have trouble maintaining a hinged position, perform the exercise near a wall and get into a hinged position with your glutes firmly against the wall. This will allow you to better leverage yourself as you improve the coordination and strength required to remain hinged while contracting your back musculature. 

Benefits of the Barbell Row

The bent-over barbell row is considered a foundational exercise because it delivers several benefits for multiple muscles in the upper and lower body.

Below are some key reasons to include the barbell row into your workout regimen, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced lifter.

Improved Spinal Stability and Posture 

A common weakness for lifters in the ability to maintain a neutral spine (flat back) during many movements. The barbell row helps to improve postural control in basic positions, which can carry over to strength and stability in other movements. It also strengthens postural muscles like the spinal erectors, which are a key muscle group for lower back health and stability.

Building a Stronger Back 

As your back gets stronger, your ability to brace your upper body will improve. This allows greater overall stability during movements like the overhead press, bench press, and squat.

The barbell row is one of the most efficient ways to build upper-body strength because it coordinates strength through the lats, upper back, lower back, shoulders, arms, and grip. Compared to other variations of rowing exercises, the barbell row allows you to potentially use more weight, which also makes it a more effective strength-builder.

Increased Back Size

Building a wider, thicker back is one of the most efficient ways to improve your physique. The lats are one of the largest muscles on the body and a well-developed upper back can’t often be hidden under clothes, unlike well-developed arms or legs. Making the barbell row a mainstay in your back workout is a time-tested way to pack on size.

Muscles Worked by the Barbell Row

The barbell row is a compound exercise, which means it involves multiple muscles moving across multiple joints to perform the movement.

The primary muscles recruited are throughout the back, while secondary muscles, such as the biceps and forearms, are also called upon.

Latissimus Dorsi

The lats form the majority of your back musculature and are the primary muscle you will be stimulating during the bent-over row. Your lats work to bring your upper arm from in front of your body, or above it, to along your side. This function is why the cue of “pulling your elbows toward your body” helps to recruit the lats.

Spinal Erectors

The spinal erectors run the length of your spinal column, including the section most commonly called “the lower back.” During the bent-over barbell row, your spinal erectors are recruited to stabilize your spine and prevent rounding while you maintain the hinged position.

Because your spinal erectors are required to hold a stable position for the duration of each set, lifters with pre-existing lower back issues often have trouble performing barbell rows and typically choose an alternate exercise.

Scapular Stabilizers 

The scapular stabilizers found across the upper back include multiple muscles working in related roles. Your trapezius, rhomboids, rear deltoids, and teres control actions such as bringing your shoulder blades together and apart, as well as moving them up and down.

This occurs while rowing the bar up and squeezing your shoulder blades together (retraction) and when lowering the barbell back to the start position, releasing (protracting) your shoulder blades.

Glutes and Hamstrings

In a hinged position, your glutes and hamstrings support your body isometrically, much like your spinal erectors work to maintain a stable upper body posture. Many lifters feel a significant stretch in their hamstrings or glutes during a set of barbell rows because the muscles are being worked in a stretched position without a full contraction.

Biceps

The biceps are recruited any time the arm flexes (bends). During the barbell row, your biceps play an assistance role to lift the weight. Your biceps can be more significantly recruited by using an underhand (palms-up) grip, which places them in a more advantageous position to be activated.

Forearms

The wrist extensors along the top of the forearm and the wrist flexors on the bottom are both highly activated during barbell rows to support a strong grip on the bar. Your flexors, in particular, are recruited to stabilize the weight as it is lifted.

For many experienced lifters lifting heavier weights, the gripping strength of the forearm muscles can be a limiting factor during rows, which is why lifting straps may be used to provide additional support.

Who Should Do the Barbell Row

Whether you are training for strength, power, or aesthetics, the barbell row can benefit your training goals. Here are more convincing reasons to include the barbell row in your back workout.

Physique-Focused Lifters 

Bodybuilders, physique athletes, and any lifter wanting to look more muscular can benefit from the barbell row. It applies muscular tension to all muscles of the back and has the potential for moving heavy loads, which can be an effective way of triggering muscle growth. The barbell row has been an essential back exercise for some of the best-built physiques.

Strength Athletes 

Strength athletes can benefit from using the barbell row to build pulling strength as well as total-body stability. The barbell row builds strength that supports upper body pressing and pulling. The lower back and postural stability can also help to improve strength during squats and deadlifts.

How to Program the Barbell Row

The barbell row is a foundational movement which can accommodate a variety of rep ranges, suitable to all lifters, goals, and programs. Below are two common and effective recommendations based on your specific training goal.

Heavy Weight, Low to Moderate Repetitions

If maximizing strength is your goal, three to five sets in the four to eight rep range is a good place to start. Use a weight that allows you to leave at least two reps left “in the tank” to ensure optimal technique. Rowing extremely heavy weights to muscular failure can add stress to the spinal erectors and increase the risk of injury.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetitions 

If maximizing muscle growth is your goal, three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range is the ideal rep spread you should be targeting. This will provide you with a bump in training volume, which is beneficial for building muscle. (2) The increased volume with relatively lighter weight also allows you to develop better muscle coordination, and can eventually lead to better recruitment of the back musculature.

Barbell Row Variations

The bent-over barbell row is a versatile and fundamental exercise, but not all lifters are prepared for the challenge. Below you will find related variations that deliver comparable results with slightly varied muscle recruitment or technique.

Yates Row

The Yates row was popularized by one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. The idea behind this exercise variation was to have a slightly more upright posture while also flipping your grip to a supinated position (underhand). These adjustments better recruit the upper back, traps, and biceps.

The key to this exercise is the bar path and torso stability needed to maximally recruit the muscles being targeted. You want to focus on the barbell being as close to your thighs as possible as you pull up through your elbows.

T-Bar Row

For this exercise, you will either need a dedicated T-bar row machine or you can take a close-grip handle from the cable station and use it with a barbell set inside a landmine attachment.

The T-bar row is less demanding on the lower back, which makes it a great exercise to emphasize the rest of the back muscles. It’s ideal at the tail-end of your workouts to fully exhaust all remaining muscle fibers that were recruited during your workout.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Row 

One of the most common variations of the barbell row is its dumbbell counterpart. The single-arm dumbbell row allows you to work one side of the body at time and provides stability, which reduces lower back stress. The increased stability also allows you to focus on achieving a longer range of motion to more thoroughly work the target muscles.

This is an effective movement to strengthen muscular imbalances by targeting one side of the back at a time.

Barbell Row Alternatives

Feeling like you have fully exhausted your ability to continue progressing the barbell row or just need a change of pace? Here are some of the most effective alternatives to continue building back size and strength.

Inverted Row 

The inverted row is an ideal bodyweight exercise alternative for the barbell row since you can train the same muscle groups in the same movement pattern. It also only requires your body weight to provide a stimulus for muscle growth and strength-building.

This can be useful as a primary exercise if you are first starting out on learning to coordinate your muscle recruitment in the barbell row or, for more experienced lifters, at the end of your workouts as a finisher after completing your heavier weight training earlier in the workout. 

Seal Row

The seal row, sometimes called a bench pull, is a chest-supported row variation that entirely removes the need to hinge. Because you’re lying prone on an elevated bench, you can more effectively isolate the larger back muscles without recruiting your lower back or lower body.

This alternative provides less stress and tension on the lower back and hamstrings, but it also means the amount of weight lifted may be  less than what you could use with a conventional barbell row. 

Pendlay Row 

The Pendlay row is often confused with the basic barbell row for good reason. The technique, muscle recruitment, and general movement pattern is nearly identical. The key difference is that each repetition of the Pendlay row begins from complete dead-stop on the floor.

This pause between reps assists in maintaining proper positioning, minimizes any momentum, and helps to develop explosive power. This can be a great alternative if you find it difficult to remain set in a proper hinged-position, because you can reset your position between each rep.

Meadows Row

The Meadows row was popularized by legendary bodybuilding coach John Meadows. In this exercise, you are able to increase your range of motion by adjusting your hip and torso position.

The unique body positioning and leverage from the landmine will work the back musculature from a slightly different angle, reduce stress on the lower back, and minimize momentum.

FAQs

I feel my upper back working more than any other muscle, what am I doing wrong?

There are two possibilities. The first is that you may be using too much weight, causing you to stand more upright and shift muscular stress away from your lats and onto your upper back and traps. The second potential issue is that you are not properly set in a strong and stable hinged position.

Reduce the weight and focus on feeling your lats contract during the exercise. Also spend some time focusing on getting into a good hinge position — push your hips back and maintain a more horizontal upper body position for the duration of the set. Slowly increase weight over time once you are strong enough to maintain a stable torso in a hinged position.

Can beginners perform the barbell row?

Absolutely. Beginners can benefit greatly by including the barbell row in their programming. However, it is important to note that if you are a beginner, remember to prioritize technique over added weight and do not hesitate to seek assistance with your technique from a qualified staff member in your local gym. 

Row Until You Can’t Row No More

Many of the all-time great bodybuilders, powerlifters, and strength athletes have built admirable backs by prioritizing the barbell row. It trains every muscle in your back, and builds strength and stability which carries over to other big lifts. It can also be a satisfying exercise to master once you’re able to walk up to an imposing barbell and pull it off the ground.

References

1. Calatayud, J., Vinstrup, J., Jakobsen, M. D., Sundstrup, E., Brandt, M., Jay, K., Colado, J. C., & Andersen, L. L. (2016). Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training. European journal of applied physiology, 116(3), 527–533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7
2. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764

Featured Image: MilanMarkovic78 / Shutterstock

The post How to Do the Bent-Over Barbell Row for a Bigger, Stronger Back appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This bodyweight basic provides an excellent stimulus to build strength and muscle in your back, biceps, and forearms. Whether you’re working toward your first pull-up or just want to build a more muscular upper body, the chin-up can offer serious gains to any lifter who masters it. Here’s how to get there.

• How to Do the Chin-Up
• Chin-Up Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Chin-Up
• Muscles Worked by the Chin-Up
• Who Should Do the Chin-Up
• How to Program the Chin-Up
• Chin-Up Variations
• Chin-Up Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Chin-Up

Step 1 — Find Your Perfect Grip

Stand directly under a pull-up bar with your arms at your sides and your thumbs pointing forward. Raise your arms straight overhead as naturally as possible. Once your hands are in line with the bar, supinate your hands (turn them palms-up) and grip the bar. This is your individualized, ideal grip-width that should suit your arm length and shoulder mobility.

Pull your shoulder blades back and lift your feet off the ground. Cross one foot over the other to engage your abs and prevent your legs from swaying. Lower your body to a complete dead hang with your weight supported by straight arms. Your head should be between your biceps, and your elbows should be fully extended.

Form Tip: Raising your arms overhead and supinating your hands is a useful and reasonably accurate guideline to set your grip. However, you may need to fine-tune your grip width slightly closer or wider if keeping your arms overhead is uncomfortable.

Step 2 — Pull Your Chin to the Bar

Take a short breath while keeping your chest tall. Externally rotate your shoulders to ensure your shoulder blades are pulled back. Pull your body towards the bar by squeezing your grip and driving your elbows back and down.

As you pull yourself up, your biceps and back musculature will be working overtime, so think about these muscles contracting as you lift. This has been shown to help improve exercise technique and muscle growth. (1) Exhale slowly as you pull yourself up and stop once your chin is at the top of the bar. Your arms should be fully contracted with your elbows near your ribs.

Form Tip: At the top of each rep, hold yourself in an isometric contraction for one to two seconds. If you can see a mirror without turning your head, take a glance to see if your elbows are pointed straight down to the ground or angled in towards your body’s centerline. If they’re pointed straight down, your shoulders are likely externally rotated, which is ideal for joint health and muscle recruitment. If they’re angled in, your shoulders are more internally rotated, and your joints are being strained.

Step 3 — Lower Under Control

Maintain a strong position through your core to mitigate any swaying. Think about your muscles lengthening as you descend until both your biceps and back musculature are fully stretched at the bottom position. Don’t allow your body to swing in the dead hang. Squeeze the bar tightly and flex your abs to keep control.

Form Tip: Movements like the chin-up should be about quality over quantity. If needed, allow yourself a few seconds to reset between each rep so that you are performing them with a high rate of work. Five perfect reps are a better goal than 10 sloppy reps.

Chin-Up Mistakes to Avoid

The chin-up can be a simple bodyweight exercise, but there are a few technical errors to avoid if you want to build muscle, get stronger, and be as efficient as possible when performing each rep.

Excessive Swinging

Just like its arguably more popular sibling, the pull-up, chin-ups require you to stabilize your entire body to minimize stress on the shoulder joint. However, there is a slight difference in the outcome of excessively swinging in the chin-up.

CrossFit has popularized kipping pull-ups, which use significant total-body swinging to complete very high-rep sets. Still, any swinging during chin-ups leaves the shoulders internally rotated, which increases strain on the shoulder and elbow joints and drastically reduces any muscular tension in the back muscles.

Whether you are trying to build muscle or strength, allowing any swinging is not going to get you closer to your goals.

Avoid It: Focus on a one to two-second pause at the top of each rep and make any necessary adjustments to keep your shoulders externally rotated — get your chest up and shoulder blades back.

Not Using a Full Range of Motion

Some gym-goers fall into the half-rep trap with chin-ups, performing a minimal range of motion from the top of the rep to almost halfway down and back up again.

This rushed approach is extremely ineffective. This short range of motion will reduce the time under tension of the working muscles, which means each rep provides less training stimulus, and you’re preventing yourself from getting stronger or building muscle.

Avoid it: Always remember to focus on quality over quantity. Don’t fall into ego lifting, and don’t be concerned with how many reps another lifter may be performing.

Benefits of the Chin-Up

When executed correctly, the chin-up can be one of the most complete upper-body exercises with minimal equipment.

It can increase strength and muscle development in your back, chest, and shoulders; support postural development, and improve shoulder mobility.

More Muscle for Your Biceps and Forearms

Using a supinated grip changes muscle activation and emphasis. This grip places a higher load on the biceps while also recruiting the forearm muscles. (2) Chin-ups allow lifters to train their biceps using relatively heavier loads (their body weight) compared to many other biceps exercises, while the back muscles act secondarily to assist the movement. This makes it an ideal exercise choice for the overall development of the forearms and biceps and for building grip strength.

Functional Hypertrophy and Strength

The functional nature of the chin-up means by becoming better at it; you will also improve your general physical performance. (3) This can easily translate to several contact sports like football, rugby, combat sports, rock climbing, or even swimming. Functional training can also help in your day-to-day lifestyle. A strong back, shoulders, and arms will benefit everything from carrying groceries to carrying kids.

Easy to Progressively Overload

To get stronger and build muscle, you need to provide some progressive overload — consistently more challenging weight or reps. With the chin-up, all you need is your body weight. Not a stack of plates, just you. When you can achieve 12 controlled reps for three or four sets, you have mastered the bodyweight chin-up.

Lifters can take many months or years depending on their training plan, to get there. At that point, you can hold a one or two-kilogram (two or five-pound) dumbbell between your legs and work your way back up to sets of 12 reps. Rinse and repeat this process, taking small jumps in weight each time as you say hello to your new gains.

Muscles Worked by the Chin-Up

The chin-up is an upper body exercise that works most of the muscles in your upper body. The biceps are worked significantly, while the back and shoulders contribute to the movement.

Biceps

The biceps are composed of two heads — the long head on the outside of the upper arm and the short head on the inner portion. Both parts of the muscle originate at the scapulae (shoulder blades) and attach near the elbow, with the long head also crossing the shoulder joint. The biceps are significantly recruited during the chin-up because the supinated (underhand) grip places the arm at a mechanical disadvantage.

Forearms

The forearms, including the flexors on the palm side and the extensors on the top side, work to support your body weight during chin-ups. The flexors, in particular, are heavily activated when pulling towards the top portion of each repetition.

Latissimus Dorsi

The lats are the largest muscles on the back. They attach to the upper arm and the spine near the lower back. They work to bring the arm closer to the body’s centerline from above the head as well as from out to the side. The arm goes through both of these motions during a chin-up, which is why it’s an effective way to activate the lats.

Upper Back

The upper back includes several similar-functioning muscles such as the trapezius, rhomboids, and rear deltoids. Each work to control various movements of the scapulae (shoulder blades) and to support the shoulder joints under muscular stress, particularly in the bottom portion of the chin-up.

Who Should Do the Chin-Up

To develop a strong and muscular back, most lifters over-focus on the pull-up. However, chin-ups can be more of a fundamental movement and more effective for gaining in size and strength.

The chin-up is especially useful due to its versatility and carries over to many pulling movements in sports and daily activities.

Training for Bodyweight Strength

To get stronger, especially with any bodyweight exercise, you must treat strength as a skill. So if you want to improve your chin-ups, you need to get better at performing the exercise itself. Reinforcing perfect technique is all about performing rep after rep while emphasizing quality over quantity.

Training for Functional Hypertrophy

Functional hypertrophy is a strategic and balanced approach to muscle growth that also improves physical performance. The long range of motion and recruitment of multiple muscles makes it a highly effective movement. Working the scapular muscles through a strong contraction and deep stretched position also builds shoulder joint health.

How to Program the Chin-Up

The chin-up can be programmed with a variety of sets and reps. Performing the exercise at the beginning of your workouts, while you are full of energy, can help to build strength and ensure quality technique.

Here are some effective ways to start implementing chin-ups into your workouts, depending on your training goal and current abilities.

Added Weight, Low Repetition

To build upper body strength with the chin-up, complete four to six sets in the three to six rep range. Avoid muscular failure, which could compromise technique, by keeping at least two reps left “in the tank”. Because this is a relatively advanced option, only add weight when you can successfully perform multiple sets of moderate to high-reps with your bodyweight.

Bodyweight-Only, Moderate Repetition

To ensure growth in the working muscles, work with three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range. This will increase overall training volume, which is beneficial for building muscle. (4) If needed, use assistance from resistance bands or a pull-up machine to achieve the target rep range.

Modified Cluster Sets

Cluster sets are a specialized training method that can allow you to build strength by performing more total repetitions without muscular failure. It’s more commonly programmed for weight training exercises using heavy loads and low reps, but it can be applied to challenging bodyweight movements like chin-ups.

For example, if you can only perform two repetitions, you would perform cluster sets or “mini-sets” of one rep. Perform one rep, rest for 15 to 30 seconds, perform another rep, rest for 15 to 30 seconds, and perform a final rep. That entire series is one set. Take two minutes rest before repeating two more full sets.

Because one set of three cluster reps is comparable to performing three reps in a single set, you can get stronger and increase total working volume, which can lead to more muscle. Adapt the method depending on the total number of reps you can currently perform. For example, if you can do five reps of chin-ups, use three clusters of three reps (nine total reps per set) for three sets.

Chin-Up Variations

There are a few simple variations for the chin-up that you can rotate into your phases of programming even once you have mastered the execution of this exercise.

Weighted Chin-Up

The weighted chin-up is the next step in advancing your development. You can use a weight vest, a weighted belt, or you can just place a single dumbbell between your legs.

Just when you think you may have reached your growth potential, add in these bad boys and you will start to make even more impressive gains in size and strength.

Semi-Supinated Chin-Up

This variation of the chin-up adjusts your grip, ever so slightly, by rotating your thumbs roughly 45-degrees towards your face. Your hands should be angled with your pinkies slightly closer to each other and your thumbs slightly farther apart.

This grip can a smoother pulling motion because strain on the wrist and elbow joints is reduced and muscular stress on the forearm muscles is increased. This allows for a more powerful and more comfortable movement for the biceps, scapulae, and back muscles.

Sternum Chin-Up

This advanced exercise variation has a greater emphasis on your scapulae. As you pull yourself up, aim to open your chest as much as possible and finish with the middle of your chest at the bar instead of your chin.

Essentially, you will be trying to overarch through your thoracic region and adjusting your body’s leverage to better allow the force of gravity to work the scapulae and achieve a greater workload through the middle of your back.

Chin-Up Alternatives

Maybe the variations above aren’t what you need or or maybe you don’t even have a bar to use at home or in the gym. Either way, there are a few alternatives that can still help you strengthen the pulling muscles involved with a chin-up.

Underhand Pulldown

The lat pulldown machine can be a great asset in mirroring the pulling motion of the chin-up. This should be used as a primary exercise if you are unable to perform bodyweight chin-ups.

Even once you have mastered the chin-up, this exercise still has its place by allowing you to fully fatigue your back, biceps, and forearms with a variety of weights and rep ranges.

Single-Arm Kneeling Pulldown

This alternative uses the cable pulley to take the muscles through a long range of motion by kneeling on the ground, setting the pulley at its highest point, and performing the movement with a significant stretch in one side at a time.

This single arm alternative can help you in strengthening any muscular imbalances that can occur when only performing bilateral movements. A key tip for this exercise is to always start each set with your non-dominant side first so you can put as much effort as possible in developing the lagging muscles.

FAQs

What is the difference between the pull-up and chin-up?

The key point of difference between these two exercises is the hand grip used on the bar. During a pull-up, your hands are pronated (palms facing down) and your hands are supinated (palms facing up) during a chin-up.

This simple different increases the recruitment of the biceps during chin-ups, while pull-ups more predominantly activate the back muscles, with the biceps in a more secondary role with limited contribution due to leverages.

How many times per week should I perform pull-ups?

If your priority is to get stronger and build muscle, start performing chin-ups twice per week with at least 48 to 72 hours rest in between each session. (5) This will give all muscles recruited enough time to recover and be ready to tackle your next session with maximal effort.

You can however, frequently perform low-rep sets of bodyweight chin-ups as a way to practice your technique. This works well during your general warm-up for upper body workouts or workouts where your back is utilized in other exercises, such as the deadlift. Performing three to four reps will be enough to assist in mobilizing and activating the muscles that are going to be worked in that session, while also preventing any significant fatigue from occurring in those muscles.

Keep Your Chin Up

The chin-up doesn’t deserve to be stuck in second-fiddle status behind the pull-up. Chin-ups are a bodyweight staple that delivers upper body functional strength and muscular coordination. And bigger biceps are a nice perk, too. It’s time to get on the bar, flip your grip, and start chinning.

References

1. Schoenfeld, Brad J. PhD, CSCS, FNSCA; Contreras, Bret MA, CSCS Attentional Focus for Maximizing Muscle Development, Strength and Conditioning Journal: February 2016 – Volume 38 – Issue 1 – p 27-29 doi: 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000190
2. Youdas, J. W., Amundson, C. L., Cicero, K. S., Hahn, J. J., Harezlak, D. T., & Hollman, J. H. (2010). Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or perfect-pullup rotational exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 24(12), 3404–3414. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181f1598c
3. Harrison, Jeffrey. (2010). Bodyweight Training: A Return To Basics. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 32. 52-55. 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181d5575c.
4. Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Krieger J, et al. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51(1):94-103. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764
5. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8

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It might be seen as a very simple movement — grab the bar, curl the bar, done — but like many straightforward exercises, details can have a big impact on your results. While there is a wide range of curls at your disposal, let’s break down why this biceps-building exercise should remain at the top of the list.

• How to Do the Barbell Curl
• Barbell Curl Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Barbell Curl
• Muscles Worked by the Barbell Curl
• Who Should Do the Barbell Curl
• How to Program the Barbell Curl
• Barbell Curl Variations
• Barbell Curl Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Barbell Curl

Visually, the barbell curl seems like a pretty straightforward exercise. You’re just bending your arms.

The truth is, there is a little more happening behind the scenes that can take you from having decent biceps to a having a great-looking set of arms.

Step 1 — Stand Tall and Proud

Stand holding a straight barbell with your hands slightly wider than hip-width and palms up. Your arms should be fully extended. Retract your shoulder blades and think about keeping your chest high and proud.

Take a breath and engage your core. Contract your triceps to make sure your biceps are fully lengthened. This assists in recruiting all the muscle fibers and ensures a full range of motion. Fix your elbows near your ribs. Your biceps should be slightly touching the outside of your chest.

Form Tip: If you have average or shorter arms, the standard hand width will be effective. If you have relatively longer arms, you can benefit from gripping the bar much wider than hip-width. Gripping too closely can put your arms into a significant internal rotation at the shoulder, which can increase joint strain.

Step 2 — Curl the Weight

Contract your biceps while breathing out. Keep your shoulders in place and continue curling until your biceps are fully shortened.

As you reach the top of the movement, curl your wrists towards your body and grip the barbell tightly. This helps to fully contract your biceps while also strengthening your forearms, wrists, and grip.

In the top position, your elbows should finish a little further in front of the body. This is okay since it is further activating the biceps (specifically the long head of the muscle). (1) Just make sure to not let your shoulders come too much into play and take over as a primary mover.

Form Tip: Throughout the exercise, keep the inside of your biceps gently in contact with the outside of your chest or serratus. This is a great way to make sure you are in the correct position for maximum your biceps recruitment, and prevents your elbows from moving too far forward or back. 

Step 3 — Return to the Start

Take a short breath in before you lower the weight under control. Again, be mindful of where the inside of your biceps are touching (chest and serratus). Keep your shoulders pulled back.

It is important to lower the barbell under control. Aim for a two to three second eccentric, which will recruit even more muscle fibers which can provide you with a greater opportunity at building more muscle.

Form Tip: After each rep, take a full inventory. Are your shoulders rolled forward? Have your elbows moved back behind your body? You should be finishing the rep exactly how you started — with the inside of your biceps slightly outside your chest or serratus, your elbows in front of your body, and your shoulder blades retracted with your chest high and proud. Don’t begin your next rep until you’re in the right position.

Barbell Curl Mistakes to Avoid

Like many exercises, the barbell curl is simple and effective when executed correctly. When executed correctly being the most important words. Let’s look at some of the common errors that can occur if you are not paying attention to technique.

Too Much Upper Body Movement

Swinging your torso front and back as you curl a barbell up and down is the quickest way to not see results and possibly find an injury. Not only does it decrease muscular tension on the biceps, but swinging weights is a clear indication that you’re trying to move weights that are way too heavy to lift with strict form.

Heaving the weights with your entire upper body instead of focusing the work on your biceps also increases your chances of straining your lower back. That’s the type of potentially chronic injury which can impact your entire training plan for the long-term.

The only exception to this is when you deliberately use your entire body to move very heavy weights in order to emphasize the eccentric (lowering phase) with strict control. This is a specific exercise variation, which will be discussed in a later section. It is an intentional movement to spread force through your legs, back, and shoulders, rather than swinging your hips and putting stress entirely on your lower back.

Avoid It: Keep your shoulder blades retracted, and tense your abs and glutes during each rep to better maximize muscular strength. Control the descent for two to three seconds to decrease the urge to swing the weights and recruit your biceps much more effectively. 

Gripping the Bar Too Wide 

Some lifters mistakenly believe that bench pressing with an extremely wide grip will increase the width of their chest. Many lifters also make the mistake of curling with an extra-wide grip hoping it will sculpt their biceps differently. The body doesn’t work that way.

Taking an incorrect grip increases the chance of straining the forearm and biceps tendons at the elbow joint because tension isn’t being focused on the muscle itself. When stress is too much for the arm musculature to tolerate, and as you fatigue during a set, it creates wear and tear leading to the biceps tendon tears.

Avoid it: Refer to the technique setup and grip width appropriate for your limb length. If you have longer arms, you’re more likely to require a wider grip to maintain relative stress on the muscles due to leverage, well-outside your shoulders and up to double your hip-width. Otherwise, keep your hands closer to hip-width.

Benefits of the Barbell Curl

The barbell curl  has long-been used to build size and strength in the biceps. Here’s a closer look at several benefits of this is foundational exercise.

Beginner-Friendly 

The barbell curl is an excellent exercise for new lifters due to its quick learning curve, basic mechanics, and ability to load the exercise with ease. It’s a highly effective fundamental lift as a simple and effective introduction to direct arm training.

Direct Biceps Training

The barbell curl is performed purely with elbow flexion, which is a major function of the biceps and no other body part. Because of this focused work, it’s one of the most effective exercises to improve size and strength in the biceps, specifically.

Potential for Heavy Weights

If you want to build strength, you need to move relatively heavy weights. The barbell curl allows you to put the biceps under the heaviest potential weights compared to other biceps exercises. This can contribute to greater overall strength, particularly with pulling exercises like deadlifts and rows.

Muscles Worked by the Barbell Curl

The barbell curl is essentially a single-joint (isolation) exercise that is one of the most effective ways to target the biceps, primarily, and the forearms as secondary movers. However, the barbell curl does incorporate a small degree of movement at the shoulder joint which also activates the anterior deltoid (front shoulder muscle) as an additional mover.

For this reason, some lifters consider it a multi-joint (compound) exercise under the most technical definition of the term, often when they exaggerate or emphasize the elbow-rising position at the top of the lift.

Biceps Brachii

The biceps are a two-headed muscle with the long head located on the outer part of the muscle and the short head on the inner side of the muscle. The long head attaches at the shoulder blade while the short head attaches at the upper arm, and both heads connect near the elbow. This is why both heads are activated when bending the elbow and the long head is recruited to move the arm at the shoulder.

Forearms

The forearms include the wrist flexors aligned with the palm-side of and the wrist extensors on the top side of the forearm. Both muscles work actively to hold and stabilize the barbell as you curl the weight.

Anterior Deltoid

The deltoid (shoulder muscle) is comprised of three separate heads — the anterior (front), lateral (side), and posterior (rear). Each head is activated to move the arm in its respective plane. During barbell curls, the anterior delts contribute to raising the arm when the barbell is in the fully curled position.

Who Should Do the Barbell Curl

Any lifter that steps foot into the gym can benefit from including barbell curls in their program. It’s a simple and versatile movement that can be programmed for several goals.

This exercise will aid in increasing muscle mass, improving arm and grip strength, and injury prevention for performance athletes that may have a higher chance of biceps or elbow injuries.

Strength Athletes

Strength athletes, including strongmen, strongmen, and powerlifters, will find that improved biceps strength carries over to increased stability during heavy pressing and pulling exercises, as well as improved grip strength. Light weight, high-rep barbell curls can also have restorative and preventative joint health benefits. (2, 3)

Physique Athletes

The barbell curl can provide any physique-focused lifter the most bang for the buck when it comes to building a more muscular set of arms. The barbell curl can accommodate much heavier weights than many other biceps exercises, which creates more programming options for more muscle-building stimuli.

How to Program the Barbell Curl

Just because the barbell curl is simple to perform, don’t think you can just walk into the gym and knock out random reps with no plan of attack. Below are some effective programming options that you can use going into your next session.

Heavy Weight, Low to Moderate Repetitions

To maximize strength, three to five sets in the four to eight rep range is a good place to start. Use a weight that allows you to leave at least two reps left “in the tank”, since curling very heavy weights to muscular failure can disrupt technique.

A rest period of two minutes and thirty seconds to three minutes after each set will ensure you are able to continue lifting with maximal effort.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetitions

To maximize muscle growth, aim for three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range. This will give you a bump in training volume, which is beneficial for building muscle. (4) The addition of sets and volume will allow you to develop better coordination of the movement and thus better recruitment of the biceps muscle overtime. 

Barbell Curl Variations

The standard barbell curl can be worked around using specific variations, for a lifter’s individual needs such as injury history, or for general change in training.

EZ-Bar Curl

This very subtle, very effective variation can provide some relief on the wrist joints and elbow joints if maintaining a palms-up (supinated) grip on a straight barbell causes discomfort. The angled grip decreases the wrist mobility needed to maintain a full palms-up grip, which reduces strain on the wrist, forearm, and elbow tendons.

The overall execution of this exercise is identical to the straight barbell curl. The angled grip also slightly alters recruitment and incorporates more forearm musculature into the exercise.

Cable Curl(s)

Attaching a straight bar to low-pulley cable will provide constant tension throughout the entire range of motion. There are two very effective ways you can make use of this variation. The first option is to stand upright and perform the exact same technical instructions as the barbell curl, using the cable pulley. 

A more intense option is to lie on the ground and perform the same curling movement. This is one of the most strict curl variations since cheating with a swinging torso is simply impossible. This can also be a great biceps finisher at the end of your workout, putting the emphasis on maximum the time under tension to fully exhaust all muscle fibers.

Eccentric Barbell Curl

This variation is all about overloading the biceps during the lowering portion of the rep. The lengthening of a muscle under load has been shown to cause a high amount of muscular stress, which leads to a higher stimulation for muscle growth. (5)

Aim for five to eight seconds to lower the barbell from the top position to fully straight arms. This specific variation is one time when it’s acceptable to use a heavier-than-normal weight and perform a cheat rep to bring the weight into the starting position. Because the biceps contraction is not a priority, use coordinated leg and back drive to lift the weight — do not simply swing with your back.

Barbell Curl Alternatives

The time-tested barbell curl can be extremely useful, but some alternatives offer specific benefits the classic barbell movement can’t match. Here are some options to consider implementing into your workout. 

Standing Dumbbell Curl

The standing dumbbell curl is performed nearly identical to the barbell curl with a strict upright stance and no swinging torso.

The dumbbells’ biggest advantage is the ability to work each arm independently, which strengthens any discrepancies that often develop naturally from performing bilateral-only exercises (working both arms work as a single unit).

Barbell Preacher Curl

The preacher curl puts the muscle under more stress in the lower portion of the range of motion. This unique stimulus and intense contraction assists in triggering more muscle growth.

With the preacher bench, your arms are set at a downward angle. Your upper arms and shoulders are supported by the pad to minimize any unwanted movement and to help isolate your biceps more effectively.

Barbell Spider Curl 

While this appears somewhat similar to a preacher curl with the upper arm angled from the body, the key difference is that the most difficult part of each rep is in the fully shortened position at the top of the movement, not the bottom.

This movement is often performed with your chest supported on the pad of a high angle bench, but it can also be performed with your elbows on the 90-degree angle side of a preacher curl bench with the arms perpendicular to the floor.

FAQs

How many different curls should I do in each workout?

This all depends on the goal of your workout. If you are purely after strength, performing one or two biceps exercises across two days of the week will be very effective. If you plan on chasing muscle gains, it would be wise to dedicate some attention to your biceps two or three times per week using one or two exercises per session.

When should I do barbell curls in my routine?

If your priority is to get stronger and build bigger biceps, it would be best to perform them at the beginning of the workout. If you are simply looking to add some direct biceps training into your upper-body focused workouts, then add this towards the end of the session after training the larger muscle groups.

Bring Back Old School Curls

The barbell curl is a time-tested exercise for performance-based training, as well as physique-focused lifters. Make room in your training plan for this classic movement and you’ll eventually have to make room in your sleeves for bigger arms.

References

1. Landin D, Thompson M, Jackson MR. Actions of the Biceps Brachii at the Shoulder: A Review. J Clin Med Res. 2017;9(8):667-670. doi:10.14740/jocmr2901w
2. Shaw, Ina & Shaw, Brandon. (2014). Resistance Training’s Role in the Prevention of Sports Injuries.
3. Kubo K, Kanehisa H, Miyatani M, Tachi M, Fukunaga T. Effect of low-load resistance training on the tendon properties in middle-aged and elderly women. Acta Physiol Scand. 2003;178(1):25-32. doi:10.1046/j.1365-201X.2003.01097.x
4. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764
5. Roig M, O’Brien K, Kirk G, Murray R, McKinnon P, Shadgan B, Reid WD. The effects of eccentric versus concentric resistance training on muscle strength and mass in healthy adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2009 Aug;43(8):556-68. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2008.051417. Epub 2008 Nov 3. PMID: 18981046.

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The exercises are similar in setup and execution, with a few key differences. The dumbbell bench press allows a longer range of motion and more freedom of movement at the shoulder joint. These advantages can elicit a greater muscle-building response, build upper body strength unilaterally (one side at a time), improve core stability, and increase your barbell bench pressing strength.

Here’s everything you need to know about the overlooked dumbbell version of one of the most popular barbell exercises.

• How to Do the Dumbbell Bench Press
• Dumbbell Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Dumbbell Bench Press
• Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Bench Press
• Who Should Do the Dumbbell Bench Press
• How to Program the Dumbbell Bench Press
• Dumbbell Bench Press Variations
• Dumbbell Bench Press Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Dumbbell Bench Press

Using dumbbells instead of a barbell provides a different shoulder and elbow position, which in turn increases the range of motion and makes the muscle-building stimulus of this exercise even greater.

Step 1 — Get into Pressing Position

As you lie back on a flat bench, bring a pair of dumbbells to the outsides of your chest with your hands facing each other. Pull your shoulder blades back into the bench. Make sure that both of your feet are placed firmly on the ground, with your feet directly under your knees.

Your glutes, your head, and both of your shoulders should be firmly touching the bench. Rotate your arms to point your elbows at an angle slightly away from your feet and allow your hands to point towards your knees.

Form Tip: For total stability, feel for six points of contact  — two feet on the ground plus your tailbone, two shoulders, and your head on the bench. This will mean you are in a good position to start the exercise

Step 2 — Drive the Weights Up

Hold the dumbbells firmly in a pronated (palms facing your feet) position with your wrists directly above your elbows. Drive your elbows up to the ceiling in a straight line until the dumbbells are positioned directly above of your pecs. Do not touch the dumbbells at the top of each rep.

Form Tip: Stack your elbows directly under your wrists before you drive up. Allowing your wrists, and the weights, to break the plane of your elbow will increase joint strain and increase the potential risk of injury.

Step 3 — Lower into a Stretch

Slowly lower the dumbbells down while squeezing your shoulder blades into the bench. Keep your elbows pointed at an angle between your feet and your shoulders. Emphasize feeling your pecs stretch as the dumbbells come to a position resting just outside your chest.

Form Tip: Think about pulling the dumbbells toward you while reaching your chest to the ceiling.

Dumbbell Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid

When using dumbbells, increased freedom at the shoulder joint also means the exercise requires increased control and coordination. There are a few errors to avoid when performing the dumbbell bench press. 

Having an Unstable Body

It is very common to see lifters place their feet in the air and cross their ankles, haphazardly sprawl their legs away from the bench, or raise their head, neck, and upper back during the exercise.

Having fewer points of contact with the bench and the ground creates instability, and a lack of leg drive hinders force production.

Avoid It: Driving your legs into the ground will help maintain balance with the torso and allow you to create more force with the upper body. Your feet, calves, hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps should all be tense and fully engaged. Keep your head in contact with the bench to encourage tension in your upper back.

Ego Lifting

Some lifters think that just because they can bench impressive weights with a barbell, they’re “supposed to” grind out low-rep sets with super-heavy dumbbells, too.

What they fail to realize is that dumbbells involve the smaller stabilizer muscles of the shoulder more than a barbell, which means excessively heavy weights can strain the shoulder joint and decrease chest muscle recruitment.

Avoid it: Leave the ego at home when it’s time to use dumbbells. Whatever you barbell bench press, cut that weight in half and then take off another 5-10kg (10-20 pounds). This will give you a good starting point for the total weight (both dumbbells combined) when learning the exercise.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Bench Press

The bench press can be a staple movement in nearly every lifter’s repertoire, but overemphasizing the barbell will neglect certain advantages unique to dumbbells.

Incorporating the dumbbell bench press into your workout routine will improve training variety while also delivering specific new stimuli for muscle growth and strength development.

Greater Range of Motion

Dumbbells allow the weights to move in an arcing path, relatively wider in the bottom position and nearly touching at the top. This provides a longer range of motion as you lengthen the muscle with a deeper stretch which can increase your muscle building potential compared to a barbell. (1)

Reduced Joint Strain

Dumbbells allow you to change the angle of your upper arm and elbow, as well as rotate your hands, which can individualize pressing angles to reduce joint strain.

With the ability to adjust your hand and elbow position from rep to rep (or within an individual rep, as needed), you can decrease stress on the elbow and shoulder joints without compromising muscle recruitment.

Unilateral Strength

Overemphasizing barbell training can create muscular discrepancies, since most lifters naturally favor one side more than the other. Because a barbell doesn’t allow each side to focus its own share of work, you may not notice the subtle differences in your unilateral strength.

Using dumbbells will allow you to build that unilateral strength and reduce any muscular imbalances from occurring while still strengthening your pecs, triceps, and shoulders.

Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Bench Press

All chest presses focus the work, appropriately, on the chest. However, several muscle groups work together to perform the exercise.

The dumbbell bench press allows lifters to train their pressing muscles (chest shoulders, and triceps) without excessively heavy weights.

Pectoralis Major 

The pec major is the big, basic chest muscle. It includes two separate heads: the clavicular (upper chest) and the sternocostal (mid-chest). Both heads of the pecs function to pull the upper arms across the chest toward the midline of the body.

Anterior Deltoid

The shoulder muscles is composed of three separate heads — the posterior (rear), the lateral (side), and the anterior (front). Each head contributes to moving the arm in its respective plane, so the anterior deltoid is heavily recruited during the dumbbell bench press because the arm is moving in front of the body.

Triceps

The triceps consist of the long, medial, and lateral heads, each playing a role in extending the elbows and raising the arms. The medial and lateral heads, in particular, are emphasized during the dumbbell bench press to move the weight and straighten (lock out) the elbows.

Pectoralis Minor and Serratus Anterior

These relatively smaller muscles are both found near the pec major. They share similar functions, helping to control shoulder blade movement and stability during pressing (and chest flye) movements.

Who Should Do the Dumbbell Bench Press

Much like the barbell bench press, the dumbbell bench press can offer benefits to strength athletes, physique-focused lifters, and general fitness enthusiasts.

Bodybuilders and Physique Enthusiasts

Whether it’s a 220-pound bodybuilding monster, a lean Men’s Physique competitor, or a more casual lifter wanting to improve their pec size and shape, the dumbbell bench press can be a key player in any chest workout.

The dumbbell bench press puts the pecs through a long time under tension with maximum muscle activation, leading to more muscle growth.

Strength Athletes

With the barbell bench press being a sport-specific lift for competitive powerlifters, using the dumbbell bench press as an accessory exercise allows the same pressing muscles to be trained without wear and tear on the joints from the barbell’s repetitive use.

Overhead strength athletes, like Olympic weightlifters and CrossFitters, can also benefit from the dumbbell bench presses ability to train more unilaterally and reduce muscle discrepancies, which leads to improvements in strength overall.

How to Program the Dumbbell Bench Press

The dumbbell bench press can be programmed using a variety of set and rep schemes. It can be performed as a primary exercise at the start of your workout or as a supplemental exercise to maximize muscle fiber recruitment during a session.

Heavy Weight, Low Repetition

To maximize strength, three to five sets in the four to eight rep range is a good place to start. Because of the dumbbell’s stability requirements, lifting excessively heavy with extremely low reps to failure isn’t safe or effective. You should be using a weight that has you finish each set with at least one to two reps left “in the tank” to avoid reaching muscular failure. A rest period of three to five minutes between each set will ensure you lift with maximum effort.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

For muscle building purposes, working for three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range will bump up your overall training volume of the pecs, which is beneficial for building muscle. (2) The multiple sets and reps also allow you to develop your bench press technique without excessive fatigue from heavier weights.

Low Weight, High Repetition

It could better to use a machine or cable-based machine when training with higher reps to failure, because shoulder stabilizers can fatigue before the chest muscles. However, working for two to three sets in the 13-20 rep range is a great way to improve your technique without impacting any extra stress on your joints that may come about from using heavier weights.

Dumbbell Bench Press Variations

Below are several effective variations that can be used by coaches and athletes to keep training varied, progressive, and more finely tuned to a lifter’s needs.

Dumbbell Floor Press

As you may have guessed, the dumbbell floor press is a dumbbell bench press performed on the floor, without a bench. This deliberately limits your range of motion to prevent the weights from traveling down past your chest. This is ideal if you experience shoulder discomfort due to restricted mobility.

It can also helps to train the triceps and improve lockout strength because top-half of the range of motion, where the triceps are most engaged, is emphasized.

Dumbbell Foam Roller Press

Using a foam roller instead of a flat bench allows the scapulae (shoulder blades) to move more freely throughout each rep, which improves upper back and shoulder health.

The mechanics of this is surprisingly similar to that of a push-up and optimizes your natural scapulohumeral rhythm — the way your shoulder muscles and shoulder blades coordinate during movement. This improvement can lead to improved shoulder joint health and increased muscular engagement.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Bench Press

This exercise variation is great for improving total-body stability and unilateral strength while also improving core engagement. You simply use one dumbbell and perform the exercise with one arm for your target number of reps before switching sides.

Your core musculature is going to be targeted to a much higher degree due to the fact that you’re preventing your torso from rotating to far to one side. It is best to use comfortable weight when first taking on this variation and build your confidence remaining stable before increasing weight.

Dumbbell Bench Press Alternatives

If you’re looking for options beyond the dumbbell bench press, there are several effective exercises that work that upper body in a similar fashion.

Barbell Bench Press

While the dumbbell bench has many specific benefits, sometimes it’s appropriate to just load some weight and bench. The key difference with this exercise is its bilateral component, moving both arms together, which is exactly what makes it a great way to load up the weight and focus on building strength.

However, the barbell bench press is not limited to purely a strength focus. Performing it later in the workout, when the chest is fatigued from other exercises, is one very effective way to provide a significant amount of volume which triggers a greater muscle-building response.

Seated Cable Chest Press

This may appear to be an unconventional exercise, but it’s very effective when executed correctly. Much like the dumbbell bench press, there is a unilateral factor involved which allows the shoulders freedom to move with reduced joint strain.

The adjustable height of the cable pulleys allows you to train at angles (simulating an incline or decline press) while remaining seated upright. Many gyms have a dedicated seated cable machine, but an identical movement can be performed placing a seated bench in the center of a two-pulley cable station.

FAQs

Can I perform the dumbbell bench press and barbell bench press in the same workout?

Yes, absolutely. Use the barbell bench press as a primary strength lift, performed with heavy weight and low reps, and use the dumbbell bench press as a hypertrophy-specific lift with light to moderate weight and moderate to higher reps. This will let you fully exhaust the muscle fibers with the increases range of motion that the dumbbell bench press offers.

How far should I lower the dumbbells?

Ideally, you’d lower the weights to the level of your chest, with your elbows slightly below the bench. However, you should focus on using your active range of motion, not the maximum range of motion regardless of pain or mobility.

If you cannot lower the dumbbells to achieve the deepest stretch of your pecs, or if you feel any discomfort that takes the emphasis off your pecs, then only move where you can maintain tension without pain. Regardless, always take your time to warm-up and physically prepare the muscles being used. Sometimes a thorough warm-up of your back, chest, and shoulders allows you to use a larger range of motion.

Rethink “Bench Day”

You wouldn’t solely rely on the dumbbell bench press to build a bigger and stronger chest, just like you wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) over-focus on the barbell bench. But when you take into consideration its benefits and versatility, it’s time to include this central exercise in your chest or “upper body pushing” workouts, with or without its barbell cousin.

References

1. Farias, D. A., Willardson, J. M., Paz, G. A., Bezerra, E. S., & Miranda, H. (2017). Maximal Strength Performance and Muscle Activation for the Bench Press and Triceps Extension Exercises Adopting Dumbbell, Barbell, and Machine Modalities Over Multiple Sets. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 31(7), 1879–1887. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001651
2. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764

Featured Image: Jasminko Ibrakovic

The post How to Do the Dumbbell Bench Press for a Bigger, Stronger Chest appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This is where isolation (single-joint) exercises can shine. The dumbbell flye is one of the most efficient exercises to really zero in on the chest. It emphasizes development of your pecs while creating less overall demand and lower general fatigue in other muscles. Here’s why you should add this bodybuilding staple to your chest workout.

• How to Do the Dumbbell Flye
• Dumbbell Flye Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Dumbbell Flye
• Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Flye
• Who Should Do the Dumbbell Flye
• How to Program the Dumbbell Flye
• Dumbbell Flye Variations
• Dumbbell Flye Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Dumbbell Flye

The dumbbell flye’s range of motion moves the weights further away from your body’s midline, which allows gravity to deliver an even greater challenge to the muscle in the eccentric (lowering) portion of the lift.

Step 1 — Set Up On the Bench

Lie on a flat bench while bringing a pair of dumbbells to your chest with bent arms, tucking your elbows to your sides. Keep your feet flat on the floor, set slightly wider than your hips. Press the weights above your chest with your palms facing each other. Keep your head in contact with the bench.

Slightly bend your arms. Retract your shoulder blades by pinching them together and maintain this position throughout each rep.

Form Tip: Before beginning each rep, take one or two seconds to “reset” in the top position and make sure that your body is properly in place.

Step 2 — Lower the Weights into a Stretch

Because this is a flye, not a press, keep your elbows at a consistent angle throughout the movement. Slowly lower the dumbbells out to the side until your arms are parallel with the floor and your palms are facing up.

Your elbows should end up in line with your shoulders. Pause briefly in the bottom position to significantly stretch your pecs.

Form Tip: The bottom position of the flye is where most injuries occur because your joints are naturally most vulnerable due to poor leverage. It is important to remain stable by driving your feet into the ground to increase your stability. Managing your breathing can also help. Hold your breath as you lower the weight, breathe out as you bring the weight back up, and inhale before lowering the weight again.

Step 3 — Lift the Weights to Full Contraction

With your abs and upper back muscles engaged and your lower body driving into the ground, think about pulling your elbows and upper arms across your chest.

Be sure to keep your arms at a consistent angle. If they’re bending and straightening excessively, you’re using your triceps, not your chest, to move the weight.

Form Tip: As you return to the top, imagine that you are giving someone a bear hug. This motion will help to keep your arms and shoulders in a good position and it helps to fully shorten the pecs as you reach the top position.

Dumbbell Flye Mistakes to Avoid

The dumbbell flye takes some concentration to yield maximum benefits. This also means it is incredibly important to nail the technical component in order to minimize the risk of injuries occurring.

Lifting With Your Arms

One of the most common mistakes is turning the dumbbell flye into the dumbbell bench press. While the press can be an effective exercise on its own, it recruits additional muscles at the expense of chest emphasis.

Bending your arms will reduce overall tension on the chest muscle, preventing the flye from stimulating maximum muscle growth.

Avoid It: Maintain a slightly bent arm throughout the entire exercise. In the bottom position, your hands should be extended away from your shoulders, not near your shoulder in a pressing position.

Lack of Stability

Some lifters will leave their legs completely relaxed, pointed on their toes, or raised completely in the air. This de-stabilizes your body and makes you less effective at performing this exercise due to a lack of stability from the ground up.

When your body is unstable, your muscles cannot produce sufficient force or maintain muscular tension. This creates a poor stimulus for growth.

Avoid It: Your legs allow you to create a base of support for more total-body stability during each rep. This means that you will be able to create more tension on the target muscle and use slightly more weight. Stay flat-footed and drive your feet into the ground during the rep.

Lifting Too Fast or Too Heavy

This mistake is more often associated with people new to training and have not yet mastered flye technique or those who rush through reps and use careless technique.

General poor form, excessively fast reps, or heavy weights can all lead to a significant amount of strain at the shoulder and elbow joints. This can also occur when the arms are locked straight during the exercise.

Avoid it: Keeping your elbows softly bent from start to finish. If the weight is too heavy, your arms will instinctively bend too much to shift the weight. Taking a brief pause in the top position can slow down your reps and ensure your form stays on point.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Flye

The dumbbell flye is unique because it allows you to challenge the pecs significantly through the eccentric portion of each rep, making the muscle contract harder in a stretched position.

The dumbbell flye puts the chest under a significant stretch, followed by an intense contraction. That’s a winning combination for muscle growth.

Challenging The Lengthened Range

The dumbbell flye triggers muscular growth by emphasizing tension on the pecs in the stretched position. Taking two to three seconds to lower the weight will challenge the muscle in the lengthened range, which may lead to increased muscle protein synthesis. (1)

This is in contrast to exercises which are more challenging in the contracted range, such as a pec-deck machine or cable crossover.

Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Flye

As an isolation exercise, the dumbbell flye focuses maximum tension on just one muscle — the chest. Several smaller muscles are recruited as well, but not as a primary mover.

Some lifters de-prioritize isolation exercises like the dumbbell flye and overfocus on multi-joint movements. That approach can create lagging muscle groups which are under-trained because multiple body parts are constantly working without regard to balanced development.

Chest

The pectoralis major covers the entire chest. Its two heads, the sternal (mid-chest) and the clavicular (upper chest) are both recruited during the exercise. One of the functions of the pecs is to adduct the upper arm — bringing the upper arm toward the body’s centerline — which is exactly the movement performed during the flye.

Anterior Deltoids

The front muscle of the shoulder, the anterior delt, is the muscle that assists the pecs in performing the flye motion. If you feel your delts are being worked more than your pecs, decrease the weight and focus on feeling the chest muscles contract and stretch, while your shoulder stabilizes the weights. Also focus on keeping your palms facing up. Don’t allow your hands to rotate during the movement. 

Biceps

While your delts assist your pecs, the biceps are also engaged and put under tension due to the slightly bent arm position. The biceps work to maintain elbow position and stabilize your lower arm (and the dumbbell) during the movement.

The biceps are worked statically because you should not be curling the weight during a dumbbell flye.

Who Should Do the Dumbbell Flye

The dumbbell flye is a classic muscle-building exercise. Any lifter looking to maximize their chest development should be implementing the movement into their programming. Due to the extended arm position and unfavorable leverages, the exercise is not well-suited to move heavy weights safely.

Physique Enthusiasts

This type of isolation exercise will assist in developing muscle size and symmetry of the pecs. The dumbbell flye allows the pecs to work with minimal involvement of other muscles, making it an effective way to emphasize the chest.

How to Program the Dumbbell Flye

To prioritize muscle growth, the dumbbell flye should be programmed as a secondary exercise after your main chest pressing. It can also be used as a finisher at the end of the workout to completely fatigue the muscle fibers recruited during the session.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

Using a standard bodybuilding approach of three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range will assist in driving up training volume for the pecs, which plays a significant role in building muscle. (2). 

Low Weight, High Repetition

Using a lighter weight for two to three sets in the 13 to 20 rep range is a great way to practice dumbbell flye technique, especially when you first incorporate it into your routine. This approach will still allow an overall increase in training volume, encouraging muscle growth.

Dumbbell Flye Variations

Below are two variations that you can swap into your workouts once you’ve mastered standard dumbbell flyes. While the exercises are still very similar in nature, the subtle differences in body positioning, range of motion, and muscle recruitment can continue to improve pec development.

Dumbbell Foam Roller Flye 

Lying on a foam roller instead of a flat bench can improve your ability to retract your shoulder blades into the foam roller itself, because the roller is more narrow than the bench, which permits the shoulder blades to move more freely.

Because the foam roller is round and may want to move beneath your body, it forces you to use more control during the exercise, which can help to keep your shoulders healthy and safe.

Incline Dumbbell Flye

Using a bench set at an inclined angle will shift the focus of the stretch to the clavicular (upper pec) head of the chest.

Although the range of motion at the shoulder joint will be slightly less than the flat bench because the arms move at a different angle, it is still important to work through the active range of motion in which you can maintain tension on the pecs. Lower the weight as far as possible without aggressively stretching the chest and shoulders, and lift to a full contraction.

Dumbbell Flye Alternatives

Some lifters may be unable to perform dumbbell flyes, either due to mobility issues, joint pain, or other individualized factors. There are several alternatives that will similarly strengthen and build your chest.

Cable Crossovers

The cable crossover, or standing cable flye, is the same single-joint movement pattern as the dumbbell flye with two major differences. First, the cable pulley system can be adjusted to varying heights and a variety of arm positions can be used. These slight differences allow “customization” of the movement to accommodate shoulder mobility issues.

Secondly, the cable machine doesn’t rely on gravity or leverage like a dumbbell flye, so it applies constant tension to the chest throughout every part of the rep. This tension also allows you to increase the range of motion by crossing your hands over each other in the contracted position, which can help you to feel the muscle working more, and understand how to fully engage your pecs on any exercise.

Pec-Deck

The “notorious” pec-deck machine is a staple in any commercial gym, but frequent misuse has built its unfair reputation as a shoulder-killer. This dumbbell flye alternative reduces the need for total-body stability due to the seated and supported position.

However, this added support does not mean you can overload the movement with heavy weights. The pec-deck is best used to finish off the chest muscles after you have already completed your primary lifts.

FAQs

What should I do if my shoulder hurts when I perform this exercise?

Stop performing the exercise immediately. If you feel pain or discomfort during a movement, do not “soldier on” and push through pain to finish your set.

Pain may not necessarily mean you have an injury, but it could be a warning sign and might actually highlight some areas of weakness which could turn into bigger issues if left unaddressed. Consulting with a medical professional is a good idea.

Can I use dumbbell flyes in every chest workout?

You could, because it’s an effective and direct chest-training exercise. However, to stimulate overall pec development and avoid stagnation, it can be more effective to rotate variations of the flye regularly. Change the movement every eight to 12 weeks or whenever you feel you cannot continue safely progressing in weight.

Flyes for Size

The bench press might be the meat and potatoes of many chest workouts, but dumbbell flyes are an essential isolation exercise when you’re after a more muscular chest. The often-overlooked isolation exercise makes it easier to crank up the pec-training volume with focused precision.

References

1. Schoenfeld, Brad MSc, CSCS The Use of Specialized Training Techniques to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy, Strength and Conditioning Journal: August 2011 – Volume 33 – Issue 4 – p 60-65 doi: 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3182221ec2 
2. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764

Featured Image: MDV Edwards / Shutterstock

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The first comes by way of a calculated diet for fat loss (mostly). Strength and muscle are forged in the gym, by selecting the right exercises and executing them with picture-perfect form. We can’t train for you, but we can point you in the right direction. And your journey to a stronger, leaner core should start with the cable crunch.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was a staunch supporter of the cable crunch, and though we could rest our case there, we’d be remiss if we failed to touch on its benefits: Optimal core tension from the cable pulley, a longer range of motion for a greater muscle-building stimulus, and did we mention Arnold loves the move?

Here’s everything you need to know to start doing cable crunches today.

• How to Do the Cable Crunch
• Cable Crunch Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Cable Crunch
• Muscles Worked by the Cable Crunch
• Who Should Do the Cable Crunch
• How to Program the Cable Crunch
• Cable Crunch Variations
• Cable Crunch Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Cable Crunch

The cable crunch uses added resistance to train the abs, with a focus on their most contracted position. The movement is strict abdominal flexion with the aim of bringing your sternum and pelvis towards each other. During this exercise, your hips should remain stable and in a fixed position.

Step 1 — Get Into the Starting Position

Attach a rope to the high cable pulley and set the pulley at eye level. Take hold of the rope in each hand as you take about three steps back before kneeling on the ground. Kneel “tall” with your shins on the ground and your thighs vertical. Lean your torso slightly forward.

Pull the rope down until your elbows are roughly at a 90-degree angle to your torso and your hands are in front of your forehead. Hold the weight in this static position throughout the entire set.

Form Tip: Muscles in a static position are always stronger than when movement is involved, so maintaining a stable arm position should not be excessively fatiguing. If your arm, shoulder, or back muscles fatigue before your abs, reduce the weight. Performing the exercise consistently will build strength in the supporting muscles.

Step 2 — Perform the Crunch

Breathe in as you brace your core. Breathe out as you start to flex at the trunk and engage your rectus abdominis (ab muscles) to crunch your upper body forward and down. Your hips and arms should remain in a fixed position and stable as you fully contract the abs.

Don’t allow your hips or glutes to move backwards while crunching because it will reduce the exercise’s effectiveness.

Form Tip: Think about getting your face closer to your knees or your elbows to your thighs. Focus on curling your torso, not keeping your torso straight while bending at the hips.

Step 3 — Return to the Starting Position

 

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As you begin to rise back up after reaching the bottom position, breathe in slowly and actively contract your spinal erectors (lower back) to “un-curl” and pull yourself up. Being mindful of this will assist in controlling the eccentric (lowering of the weight) and will allow you to lengthen the abdominals while keeping your hips stable. When your torso is upright again, repeat another rep.

Form Tip: Perform this phase of the exercise at a slower speed than the crunching phase, taking two or three seconds to reach the top position. The slower rep speed allows you to focus on maintaining technique and ensures strict form.

Cable Crunch Mistakes to Avoid

There are a few common mistakes that you will want to avoid to maximize the effectiveness of the cable crunch.

Most problems stem from recruiting the wrong muscles to move the weight or not putting your body in an optimal position to recruit the abs effectively.

Setting Your Hips Too Low

If your hips are too low when performing the cable crunch, you will rely on using your own body as a counterweight to move the resistance. Your hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors will also be significantly involved in an exercise which should be primarily targeting your abdominals.

When you shift your hips back, you’re unable to achieve a full range of motion because your torso cannot fully contract and your torso cannot flex forward far enough.

Avoid It: Ensure movement comes from the spine, not the tailbone. Keep your hips high and locked in place in order to flex only from the trunk. Your glutes should not move closer to your feet during the exercise.

Taking the Wrong Grip

This may seem too simple, but your hand positioning plays an important role in leveraging your body from an effective position. Your hands and arms can also be a visual guide to make sure your hips are high enough.

Most people will pull the rope attachment down, resting their hands on their shoulders or upper chest. Pulling the weight “in” to your body can encourage you to sit back onto your heels rather than keeping your thighs up straight.

Avoid it: Keep the rope in front of your body with your arms bent. This encourages your shoulders, core, and entire upper body to be more engaged. Have the knuckles on both hands touching each other with your hands roughly at the height of your forehead. Your hands should remain in front of your face throughout each rep.

Benefits of the Cable Crunch

Not too many exercises require you to use the abs to directly move a weight. However, there are few better ways to train a muscle than against progressively overloaded resistance. The cable crunch allows you to challenge your abs not only by doing more reps, but by gradually lifting heavier each week.

This is exactly the type of training that builds powerful, great-looking  muscles, whether it’s your abs, pecs, or legs.

More Core Strength

A strong set of abs can go a long way in improving your strength potential in many other lifts, such as your bench press, squat, and deadlift. The cable crunch directly trains the rectus abdominis which plays an important role in your ability to brace your core effectively. Stronger abs allow a more stable torso, which allows power to be transferred through to the working muscles.

Longer Range of Motion

The range of motion in any given exercise is an important factor in building muscle. The cable crunch provides a much longer range of motion in contrast to many other abdominal exercises like standard crunches or sit-ups. With a deep stretch in the top position and a full contraction at the bottom, the cable crunch works the abs through a significant range of motion.

Building Ab Muscle

You hopefully wouldn’t try to build arm size performing 50 reps of curls with no weight in your hand, but that’s how many people approach ab training. While the abs won’t grow inches thicker, they are made of muscle tissue which needs to be developed to look its best. The cable crunch trains your abs against resistance, which stimulates muscle growth and builds a good-looking set of abs.

Muscles Worked by the Cable Crunch

The cable crunch is an abdominal flexion exercise, with no twisting or rotating. This makes it an ideal exercise for zeroing in on the primary ab muscle — the rectus abdominis.

When done correctly, it produces a serious contraction along the entire ab muscle.

Rectus Abdominis

The rectus abdominis attaches the sternum, the connective tissue of the ribs, and the pelvis. Its primary function is flexion of the spine, or flexing the trunk forward. It also contributes to postural support for your entire upper body.

Hip Flexors

The hip flexors are a series of small muscles found at the top of the thigh around the hip bones, appropriately. They connect the pelvis to the lower back and are responsible for bringing the legs closer to the chest. During the cable crunch, the hip flexors should not be significantly activated unless the hips move improperly during the exercise.

Who Should Do the Cable Crunch

The cable crunch can help any lifter improve their ability to tense and contract their abs. This can only help to sculpt a nice-looking set of abs (once you remove some body fat to reveal the ab muscles), but it also provides a functional benefit improving your ability to perform a variety of exercises.

Training For Strength

Improving your abdominal strength builds a strong core, which is essential for moving big weights in any lift. If you’re losing your squats and deads by falling forwards or not bracing hard enough during presses, cable crunches are an useful assistance movement to support total-body strength.

Training For Muscle

If you are training purely for aesthetic purposes, the cable crunch is just as useful to you as lat pulldowns, triceps pressdowns, or any other targeted cable exercise. The cable pulley is ideal for constant tension, slightly higher reps, and extended time under tension which can provide your abs with a greater stimulation of muscle growth. (1)

How to Program the Cable Crunch

The cable crunch can be programmed in a number of different ways to benefit your specific training objective.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Reps

Performing the cable crunch for three to four sets of eight to 12 reps will provide the most bang for your muscle-building buck. Focus on the strength of your contractions and progressively overload the exercise just like you would for your primary strength lifts.

A steady and controlled tempo will be best-suited, taking your time to feel every inch of your abdominal muscles contracting and lengthening throughout each rep.

Low Weight, High Reps

Performing the cable crunch for two to three sets of 13 reps or more will allow you to add a greater amount of volume to your ab training and will be most useful at the end of your workout to finish off your abs.

The emphasis is on maintaining tension on the abdominals and providing a continual contraction, which leads to the feeling of being “pumped.” Perform reps steadily without pausing at any point in the movement. Take two seconds when you return to the starting position, no pause at the top, take one second to contract the abs, and have no pause at the bottom. This will complete one rep at 2-0-1-0 tempo.

Cable Crunch Variations

Here are two effective variations which can be switched out in place of, or in addition to, the standard cable crunch depending on your specific needs and overall workout program.

Standing Cable Crunch

The standing cable crunch can improve your strength and stability throughout your core, while also allowing for a great range of motion. However, that also comes with an increase in the difficulty of achieving maximum contraction in the abs.

The movement is performed by closing the gap between your sternum and pelvis. Avoid thinking about bending straight down. To assist with good form, think about bringing your hips forward as you crunch and looking at your belt buckle.

Machine Crunch

The machine crunch can make it easier to target the abdominal muscles because the machine puts you in a good position. In this variation, you sit upright and the machine will assist in flexing your torso, with your chest and thighs meeting in the middle.

This exercise variation can assist you in developing a greater mind-muscle connection since you can focus on feeling the abs instead of coordinating movement during the exercise. An improved mind-muscle connection can then translate into feeling the muscle working even more effectively during more difficult exercises like the cable crunch.

Cable Crunch Alternatives

In order to be a successful exercise alternative, the primary muscle needs to be the rectus abdominis. The movement needs to involve flexing the spine with a full contraction of the abdominals, and without twisting or rotating the torso.

Floor Crunch

Floor crunches are the most simple alternative that can be used in place of the cable crunch. All you need is a floor and you are good to go.

It’s easy to perform and has an extremely short range of motion. This exercise is most often associated with lifters who are new to training and learning how to perform the fundamentals.

Sit-Up

Sit-ups are a very similar exercise to crunches, but provide a longer range of motion (similar to the cable crunch), which makes them relatively more challenging.

This exercise can be progressively overloaded with the use of a weight held to your chest or over your head throughout each rep.

Decline Bench Sit-Up

The closest exercise alternative to the cable crunch is the decline bench sit-up due to the significant range of motion and spinal flexion needed to perform the movement. All you need is a bench set to a declined angle.

You can make the exercise more challenging by raising the angle of the bench and/or by adding resistance using a dumbbell or weight plate.

FAQs

Are cable crunches effective at shredding abs?

Cable crunches are effective at building a strong set of abs and they provide a direct muscle growth stimulus.  However, doing cable crunches to get shredded won’t work. No ab exercise can help with that.

The only way to reveal a defined set of abs is to focus on your daily energy balance and make sure that you consistently stay within a caloric deficit. This is generally achieved by a reduction in total calories and/or an increase in your energy expenditure.

Can I injure myself when performing cable crunches?

Performing any exercise with incorrect technique can increase your risk of injury. The cable crunch isn’t as high-risk as the deadlift or back squat, but performing it with poor form can lead to some problems.

If you are not rounding your back properly and fully flexing your abs in the bottom position, you may prevent your rectus abdominis muscles from contracting effectively which can restrict you from training through a full range of motion and will interrupt progress. Involving your hip flexors by excessively sitting back or sitting down can aggravate lower back issues, because the hip flexors are connected to the lumbar spine.

Get Down and Crunch

The cable crunch is one of the few exercises requiring the abs to work against resistance instead of being performed with just your bodyweight. This makes the exercise a high priority for building stronger, better developed abs. It’s time to start practicing this powerful movement and fit it into your next ab workout.

References

1. Burd NA, Andrews RJ, West DW, et al. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. J Physiol. 2012;590(2):351-362. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200

Featured Image: Skydive Erick / Shutterstock

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This is where the lat pulldown, sometimes called the front pulldown, comes in. It’s equally effective for beginners, intermediates, and advanced lifters because it can be performed with a variety of attachments and requires minimal equipment to execute. Here’s how to get the most out of this fundamental back-building exercise.

• How to Do the Lat Pulldown
• Lat Pulldown Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Lat Pulldown
• Muscles Worked by the Lat Pulldown
• Who Should Do the Lat Pulldown
• How to Program the Lat Pulldown
• Lat Pulldown Variations
• Lat Pulldown Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Lat Pulldown

Because the lat pulldown uses a cable machine, it provides a great opportunity for muscle development. Master the basic movement, and then you can manipulate your body position and bar attachments to target your back muscles in a variety of ways.

Step 1 — Grab the Bar and Sit Down

Attach a wide bar to the pulldown cable attachment. Take a seat and adjust the kneepads to keep your lower body locked into place. Stand up and take hold of the bar wider than shoulder-width using a pronated grip (palms facing away from you).

Keep hold of the bar with slightly bent arms and use your bodyweight to descend into the seat. Shift your thighs under the pads and firmly plant your feet on the floor.

Form Tip: Stand with your thighs as close to the pads as possible before descending to help you better get into position smoothly. Locking your legs beneath the pads helps to provide stability and can reinforce a strict upper body position.

Step 2 — Pull the Weight to Your Chest

Remain in an upright position and create a very slight arch in your lower back, opening your chest towards the ceiling. Pull your shoulder blades together and down. Engage your core and pull the bar until it is underneath your chin or touches your chest without using any momentum.

Your torso should remain mostly stationary throughout the entire rep. Rather than just thinking “pull using every muscle available,” a great cue is to think about pulling your elbows out to the sides and down into the floor.

Form Tip: Imagine you are wearing pants that have back pockets and think about pulling your shoulder blades back and down towards those pockets. This scapular retraction and depression helps to engage more upper back muscles.

Step 3 — Raise Your Arms, Lower the Weight

Once you have reached the bottom, raise your arms under control, remaining seated. When your arms are fully stretched, release your shoulder blades from the pulled back position. Don’t shift or swing your upper body while your arms move.

Form Tip: When ascending back to the top of the movement, it is common to see people moving too fast. By not controlling the weight, you decrease stress on the back muscles and allow arms to take over. Take the time to feel your back muscles as they slowly stretch and fully lengthen. This body awareness creates a sense of mindfulness and helps you to use your back muscles more effectively in this and other exercises.

Lat Pulldown Mistakes to Avoid

While your lower body is set in place, your upper body is unsupported and simple mistakes in technique can reduce muscle activation and overall effectiveness.

Pulling the Bar Behind Your Neck

While behind the neck pulldowns are technically an exercise variation and not necessarily a “mistake,” it’s important to know that the movement can put you at risk of shoulder injury.

Due to the positioning of the shoulder joint, you may find yourself with some discomfort and irritation of the shoulders. (1)(2) Avoid this movement altogether and keep the bar in front.

Avoid It: Lifters often use the behind the neck pulldown thinking that it targets the back muscles differently. However, research has shown that this variation is no more effective at training the lats than your standard lat pulldown, yet has a higher potential for injury. (3)

Gripping the Bar Too Wide

Some lifters use an extremely wide grip, often at the extreme ends of the bar, in the hopes that it will help to build wider lats. Unfortunately, “wide grip = wide lats” doesn’t pan out.

Research has shown that the wide-grip variation is not more effective than the standard lat pulldown for training your lats. (4)

Avoid It: Maintain a standard grip, slightly wider than your shoulders. To build a wider back, focus on performing the exercise properly, contracting the muscles, and achieving a complete stretch.

Swinging Your Torso

Some lifters perform the lat pulldown like a fish out of water, with their whole upper body swaying back and forth. In some cases, you will even see their lower body come up off the seat. This is not the way to get results.

Avoid using any weight that causes you to sway excessively. This instability of your torso will displace stress from the muscles you want to target, which will take away from the effectiveness of the exercise.

Avoid it: Engage your core musculature and flex your abs while imagining being “stuck in the mud.” You want to be so stable that if someone tried to shove you from any angle, you remain in position.

Benefits of the Lat Pulldown

The benefits of the lat pulldown begin with its simplicity in set up and potential to be progressed (made more challenging) or regressed (made easier) beyond simply increasing or reducing weight.

Pulldowns can help to improve a range of qualities in the upper body such as muscular strength, muscle hypertrophy, muscular endurance, and performance.

Constant Tension

The use of the cable places a significant amount of stress on the muscles due to the constant tension being placed throughout the entire range of motion. This makes it an invaluable exercise for lifters working to build size, because a greater amount of time under tension has been shown to stimulate more muscle growth. (5)

Beginner-Friendly

The pull-up and chin-up will always reign as kings for upper body vertical pulling exercises, but the lat pulldown can still be a great exercise for lifters new to training. You may not be strong enough to perform a pull-up, but the lat pulldown will assist in developing your back musculature as you become stronger over time.

The lat pulldown places relatively less demand on your body, which means you can train with a considerable amount of volume by increasing your sets and reps each week, making it a great exercise to build muscle and strength in your back.

Muscles Worked by the Lat Pulldown

The lat pulldown works a host of muscles on your back, including the large lat muscles and the entire upper back.

This pulling movement, like most back exercises, also provides some stimulation to the forearms and biceps.

Latissimus Dorsi

The lats are the wide muscles on either side of your back. They have two functions — to bring the arm in closer to your body when it is out to the side and to bring the arm closer to the body when it is out in front. The path of your elbow and upper arm follows both of these movements, which is why pulldowns hit target the lats efficiently.

Upper Back

The trapezius, rhomboids, teres, infraspinatus, and posterior deltoid work together to form the upper back musculature. They control a variety of movements at the scapulae (shoulder blades), including raising and lowering, pinching together, extending, and pulling downwards.

Biceps Brachii

The biceps are recruited during nearly all back exercises, particularly pulldowns as the weight is lifted and your arm bends and straightens at the elbow. “Lifting with the arms” can occur when your elbows are bent too quickly and the biceps move the weight, rather than lifting with your back muscles by focusing on moving your upper arm at the shoulder.

Forearms

The forearm muscles, specifically the wrist flexors on the palm-side of the arm, are heavily activated to secure your grip to the bar while lifting and lowering the weight. Some lifters may have their grip strength become a limiting factor when pulldown weights get excessively heavy. Progressing gradually, or considering lifting straps, should help to avoid the problem.

Who Should Do the Lat Pulldown

A number of lifters can make use of the lat pulldown within their programming due to its versatility, simplicity in its set up, and ability to provide a significant amount of tension on the majority of the back muscles.

Training for Muscle

You would think by the name of the exercise that it would specifically target the lats, yet, most people are surprised that research has shown it actually trains the majority of your back muscles very effectively. (6)

Not only can you use relatively heavy weights, since this exercise recruits almost every major muscle group in your back, but you also don’t need to use multiple exercises within your workout which makes the lat pulldown an ideal, time-efficient choice.

How to Program the Lat Pulldown

To maximize muscle development and strength, a variety of rep ranges can be used on the lat pulldown. However, you should never use a weight so heavy that it takes away from executing the exercise properly.

Too many lifters pile on the weight and swing their torso to get it moving, thinking they’re overloading their back when all they’re doing is stressing their joints, not their muscles.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

To maximize muscular hypertrophy, training within a close proximity to muscular failure in the six to 12 rep range for three or four sets is the most effective way to program this exercise.

Light Weight, High Repetition

The use of the cable machine creates constant tension, increasing the muscle-building stimulus. This can be further exploited at the end of a workout to fully exhaust all muscle fibers. Using two to three sets of 12 to 20 reps will serve you best.

Lat Pulldown Variations

The lat pulldown is a highly adaptable exercise that can be used in a variety of ways by simply attaching a different handle or attachment.

V-Bar (Neutral-Grip) Pulldown

The neutral-grip variation uses a V-bar attachment to allow your palms to face each other. This adjusted grip position provides you with a mechanical advantage which allows you to lift more weight.

This is a great variation to use for working the surrounding muscles of the scapulae through a full range of motion while strengthening your back in the process.

Supinated-Grip Pulldown

The supinated variation uses a standard long bar with your palms facing you. The key difference with the supinated lat pulldown is that it trains the biceps more than the standard pulldown, with the lats being trained more in the standard movement. (7)

This can be seen as a similar relationship between the pull-up and chin-up, with the chin-up emphasizing the biceps and the pull-up emphasizing the lats

Single-Arm Pulldown

Attaching one single handle to the pulley and training each arm individually allows you to identify any muscular imbalances between sides of the body. By focusing on each side independently, you can strengthen and correct any differences.

The free movement of a single handle also allows you to use a variety of hand positions, either neutral (palm facing you), supinated, pronated, or rotating during the movement. Each hand position will slightly alter muscle recruitment and can reduce stress on elbow or shoulder joints.

Lat Pulldown Alternatives

Once you have built a solid foundation of strength on the lat pulldown, your back will be better developed to progress into more advanced exercise alternatives. It is important to note that the lat pulldown can still be used within your workouts, but the order of priority may change.

For example, you may perform more challenging exercises earlier in your back workout when your strength, focus, and energy is higher and train pulldowns later in the workout.

Pull-Up

The goal of successfully performing a pull-up (or chin-up) should be on every lifter’s mind since it works the entire back, can be done nearly anywhere, and is so easy to progressively overload.

Mastering this fundamental bodyweight exercise can benefit any lifter or athlete.

Assisted Pull-Up

The assisted pull-up, either with a machine or using resistance bands, is a great exercise to transition from pulldowns to full pull-ups This exercise allows you to practice the correct positioning of the upper body and reinforce technique that will be required when performing a pull-up.

Use this exercise to focus on feeling the back musculature throughout the eccentric (lowering)and concentric (lifting) portions of the lift while also practicing your ability to engage your core and keep your torso stable.

FAQs

Is there a “best” pulldown attachment to use?

All of the variations of the lat pulldown are very effective exercises that should be used across multiple phases of training. To maximize overall back development, it would be a good idea to rotate one or two of these variations into each phase of your programming.

This will help decrease any muscular imbalances that may occur when solely focusing on one exercise, but can also help you identify any weak points that you may have when using certain variations.

How long until I will be able to perform a bodyweight pull-up?

Every person will progress at their own ability based on a number of individual factors, so there is no set timeline to achieving your first bodyweight pull-up. However, if you are incorporating a combination of the above pulldown variations into your workouts, this will give you the best opportunity at finally achieving that bodyweight pull-up or chin-up faster.

While the pull-up may be considered as the ultimate goal, once you feel that your back is strong enough, starting with the chin-up alternative will allow you to practice the same general technique involved in the pull-up, but it is relatively easier to perform due to the slight mechanical advantage using a supinated grip.

Perfect the Pulldown

The lat pulldown is a reliable back-builder, perfect for beginners and advanced lifters. It should be a staple in any back routine, whether you’re on the way to your first pull-up or can knock them out by the dozen.

References

1. Pagnani, M. J., & Warren, R. F. (1994). Stabilizers of the glenohumeral joint. Journal of shoulder and elbow surgery, 3(3), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1058-2746(09)80098-0
2. Durall, Chris & Manske, Robert & Davies, George. (2001). Avoiding Shoulder Injury From Resistance Training. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 23. 10. 10.1519/00126548-200110000-00002.
3. Sperandei, S., Barros, M. A., Silveira-Júnior, P. C., & Oliveira, C. G. (2009). Electromyographic analysis of three different types of lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 23(7), 2033–2038. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b8d30a
4. Andersen, V., Fimland, M. S., Wiik, E., Skoglund, A., & Saeterbakken, A. H. (2014). Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 28(4), 1135–1142. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSC.0000000000000232
5. Burd NA, Andrews RJ, West DW, et al. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. J Physiol. 2012;590(2):351-362. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
6. Ronai, Peter. (2019). The Lat Pulldown. ACSMʼs Health & Fitness Journal. 23. 24-30. 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000469.
7. Lehman, G. J., Buchan, D. D., Lundy, A., Myers, N., & Nalborczyk, A. (2004). Variations in muscle activation levels during traditional latissimus dorsi weight training exercises: An experimental study. Dynamic medicine : DM, 3(1), 4. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-5918-3-4

Featured Image: lunamarina / Shutterstock

The post How to Do the Lat Pulldown — Benefits, Muscles Worked, and Variations appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Beyond joint-friendly training, if you want to look great but haven’t added lateral raises into your workouts, two words should convince you otherwise: boulder shoulders. You can bench and overhead press all you want, but you still won’t see a set of broad, round, fully developed shoulders in the mirror.

The lateral deltoid is underdeveloped in many lifters due to the lack of direct stimulation from many compound exercises. Add lateral raises to your program, and you’ll close the gap in developing well-rounded shoulders. Let’s break down everything you need to know about performing this beneficial exercise.

• How to Do the Dumbbell Lateral Raise
• Lateral Raise Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Lateral Raise
• Muscles Worked by the Lateral Raise
• Who Should Do the Lateral Raise
• How to Program the Lateral Raise
• Lateral Raise Variations
• Lateral Raise Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Lateral Raise

The lateral raise seems simple enough. Grab hold of some dumbbells, raise them out to the side, lower them down, and repeat.

The shoulder is a tricky piece of machinery, and if poor technical habits are engrained, they may lead to an increased risk of injury. Let’s give you the rundown on performing this exercise perfectly.

Step 1 — Find the Starting Position

Stand up straight with your arms at your sides and a dumbbell in each hand. Position your feet just inside shoulder-width apart and brace your core. Lean forward slightly and allow the weights to touch each other in front of your thighs. Your palms should be facing each other and your elbows should be very slightly bent.

Form Tip: Slightly bending at the hips will shift your center of gravity and help to keep yourself grounded as long as you also tense your core. It also elicits a greater range of motion for the shoulder to move through, compared to keeping the weights at your sides.

Step 2 — Raise to Shoulder-Level

Maintain a neutral grip (palms facing your body) and keep your elbows in a softly bent position. Initiate the raise by driving out and up through your elbows until your upper arm is parallel to the floor. As the weights come up, your hands should naturally rotate to point your palms towards the ground.

Focus on moving your elbows to lift the weight, not leading with your hands. Your shoulders should be kept down, not shrugged up towards your ears.

Form Tip: Think of standing on the face of a clock. During the movement, your left arm should be pointing between nine and ten and your right arm should be between two and three. Keeping your arms in this alignment will better serve shoulder health while maintaining tension on the muscle.

Step 3 — Lower to Stretch

Maintain tightness through your core and lower body as you lower the weights along the same path. Use a controlled tempo, taking one to two seconds. The dumbbells should end up in the starting position touching each other in front of your thighs.

Form Tip: Rest in the bottom position for one second before starting the next rep. This will lessen any momentum being used to drive up the dumbbells.

Lateral Raise Mistakes to Avoid

While the lateral raise may seem easy enough to perform, there are some important mistakes that must be avoided to prevent any unnecessary risk of injury.

Lifting the Dumbbells Above Your Head

While lifting with a large range of motion can sometimes provide greater benefits in building muscle, in this case more is not better.

Lifting your arms too high (bringing the upper arms well-above shoulder-level) can place you at risk of an impingement in the shoulder, which is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. (1)

Avoid It: Imagine you have a barbell across your upper back, much like when performing a barbell squat. As you raise the dumbbells upwards, think about the barbell. Once your upper arm “touches” the bar, lower the weights down.

Lifting Too Much Weight

A lot of gym-goers can be seen using a weight that is so heavy it forces them to use momentum to complete the lateral raise.

This form of “cheating” will allow you to move more weight, but it also means that you lose a lot of the tension being placed on the target muscle. This goes against the objective of the exercise, which is to maximally recruit and stimulate the lateral deltoid.

Avoid it: Leave your ego at the door. Use a weight that you can lift with control for at least six reps. Keep your entire body tensed to maximize stability and reduce any chance of momentum being used.

Over-Rotating the Wrists

In order to increase the activation of the lateral delt, many lifters dramatically rotate their wrists during each rep, tipping their thumbs towards the floor and their pinkies towards the ceiling (imagine pouring a glass of juice). (2)

At first, this sounds like a great technique to implement into your training due to the increased muscle activation. However, further studies have also shown that using this technique can increase your shoulders’ vulnerability and increase your risk of injury. (1)

Avoid it: Ensure that your palms, not your thumbs, are pointed towards the ground in the top position of each rep.

Benefits of the Lateral Raise

The benefits of the lateral raise are largely aligned with strengthening the shoulder and improving muscle development through isolating the side shoulder (lateral deltoid) muscle.

Shoulder Strength

The shoulder muscle is most commonly trained with various types of overhead pressing. However, directly training the lateral deltoid head with lateral raises, similar to directly training the front and rear heads of the shoulder, carryover to improved pressing strength.

Well-Balanced Upper Body Appearance

The lateral deltoid is a muscle that is not effectively or efficiently stimulated in many compound exercises, which can leave them lagging and under-developed. The lateral raise can specifically isolate this muscle allowing you to build a more balanced and aesthetic upper body.

Muscles Worked by the Lateral Raise

The shoulder joint has a very high degree of freedom, which means the shoulder muscle can perform a variety of functions. The shoulders are anatomically split into three heads — the anterior (front), the lateral (side), and the posterior (rear).

The lateral raise trains all three heads of the deltoids, but the movement is most effective at isolating the lateral head, hence the name of the exercise itself.

Lateral Deltoids

The lateral delts are most visible in the center part of the shoulder muscle. They connect your upper arm to the acromion process on top of your shoulder blade. This head of the shoulder assists in moving your arm out to the side and away from your body, which is the exact movement performed during the lateral raise.

Anterior Deltoids

The anterior, or front, delts are found just above the biceps. They connect your upper arm to your shoulder blade. While they primarily work to bring your arm in front of your body, they are recruited during lateral raises.

Posterior Deltoids

Your posterior, or rear, delts are on the back section of the shoulder muscles. They attach your upper arm to a different section of your shoulder blade. The rear delts function to move your arms behind your body and help control your scapulae (shoulder blades). The posterior delts are significantly recruited during lateral raises, particularly while your torso is slightly bent forward during the exercise.

Trapezius

The trapezius is a relatively large muscle found along your neck and upper back. It isn’t, and shouldn’t be, a primary mover during the lateral raise, but it’s recruited as the weight is moved during the exercise. When lateral raises are performed incorrectly (swinging the upper body or shrugging the shoulders up), the traps can “take over” and reduce deltoid activation.

Who Should Do the Lateral Raise

The lateral raise is a good shoulder strengthening exercise and a great choice for lifters who want to maximize their lateral head muscle development.

Training for Strength

The lateral raise supports overall pressing strength by helping to build the shoulders, which are required for all variations of the bench press and overhead presses. Strength athletes looking to move significant weight in any press will build shoulder strength and overall joint health by incorporating the lateral raise.

Training for Muscle

The lateral raise is one of the few exercises to target and specifically emphasize the side delt directly. When performed correctly, you can overload this section of your shoulder without relying on an excessive amount of weight, making it ideal for any lifters looking to increase shoulder size with minimal joint strain.

How to Program the Lateral Raise

To prioritize muscle growth in the side delts, the dumbbell lateral raise should be programmed earlier in the session to capitalize on energy and focus. However, the exercise can also be effective when used to completely exhaust the muscle fibers towards the end of your workout.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

To build a well-developed set of shoulders, a classic bodybuilding approach working for three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range will increase training volume for the side delts, which is beneficial for building muscle. (3)

Low Weight, High Repetition

Working for two to three sets in the 13 to 20 rep range (or higher) will deliver the best results when using lighter weights, but it is important to ensure you are not just going through the motions when reps get incredibly high. Each repetition should be performed with crisp technique, no matter how many are performed.

High-rep sets with lighter weight can increase total training volume even further. These types of “burnout sets” are ideal at the back end of your workouts to fully exhaust the muscle fibers of the side delt.

Lateral Raise Variations

While the lateral raise will forever be a time-tested movement, there are also a few variations that can be rotated into your workouts for additional lateral delt development.

Machine Lateral Raise

The machine lateral raise can make it more comfortable for lifters to target the side delt. The main benefit is the weight being placed on your forearms or upper arms instead of being held in your hands. No longer will your grip be a limiting factor.

The machine also makes it more difficult to swing the weight into position, requiring more muscle activation.

Seated Lateral Raise

The seated lateral raise makes it next-to-impossible to move your torso without noticing, which ensures the tension is maintained on the side delt and reinforces strict form.

The seated variation is nearly identical to the standing exercise. The key difference is the stable upright position of your torso, which makes any swinging of your torso immediately noticeable.

Lean-Away Cable Lateral Raise

This cable variation places the muscle under a significant amount of tension throughout its entire range of motion and allows for a more constant resistance curve.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=H-TvQGfhR0w

The basic dumbbell exercise relies on gravity to provide resistance, which is minimal in the lower portion of the movement. The cable pulley provides steady resistance throughout the entire exercise.

The lean away approach also changes the arm angle so that less emphasis is placed on the rotator cuff, and a greater emphasis is placed on the lateral delt. (4)

Lateral Raise Alternatives

The lateral raise is a great exercise that targets the side delt. However, there are a few alternatives that you can rotate into your programming for variety and more diverse muscle activation.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Upright Row

This unusual but highly effective movement allows for greater freedom at the shoulder joint than the more traditional barbell upright row, which has a reputation for excessive joint stress.

The single dumbbell also allows the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints to move and adjust for the exact range of motion that feels most comfortable and least stressful on the joints.

Cable Upright Row

This exercise may be the most effective compound movement for lateral delt development due to the significant shoulder abduction (upwards and outwards) component. Using a rope on a low cable pulley gives the shoulder joint more freedom to move, compared to attaching a straight bar to the cable.

To prevent any chance of shoulder impingement or joint strain, don’t allow your elbows to rise up above shoulder-height. To minimize the trapezius being recruited, initiate the movement by pulling the rope handle apart and out towards your shoulders, rather than straight up towards your chin.

FAQs

How heavy should I perform lateral raises?

The side delt is a relatively small muscle and does not require an extremely heavy load to stimulate the muscle. You want a weight that is challenging for the intended rep range, but not so heavy that it forces you to cheat the weight up.

Remember that the goal of the exercise is to stimulate the side deltoid, not to move the most weight.

How many times per week can I do lateral raises?

Throwing in some lateral raises twice per week is going to be more effective than once per week for maximizing growth. (5) As you become a more experienced lifter, it can be worthwhile adding in an extra day per week.

Because the lateral raise doesn’t contribute significantly to overall training stress (compared to a bigger exercise like deadlift), it can be plugged into many other workouts without drastically affecting recovery.

References

1. Kolber, M.J., Cheatham, S.W., Salamh, P.A., & Hanney, W.J. (2014). Characteristics of Shoulder Impingement in the Recreational Weight-Training Population. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 28, 1081–1089.
2. Coratella, G., Tornatore, G., Longo, S., Esposito, F., & Cè, E. (2020). An Electromyographic Analysis of Lateral Raise Variations and Frontal Raise in Competitive Bodybuilders. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(17), 6015. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176015
3. Schoenfeld, B. J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 51(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764
4. McMahon PJ, Debski RE, Thompson WO, Warner JJ, Fu FH, Woo SL. Shoulder muscle forces and tendon excursions during glenohumeral abduction in the scapular plane. J shoulder Elb Surg. 1995;4(3):199-208.
5. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8

Featured Image: Sjale / Shutterstock

The post How to Do the Lateral Raise for Bigger Shoulders appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This battle-tested exercise is unique since it delivers a stronger back and abs for huge carryover to almost every other major lift. Plus, bigger muscles in the back, shoulders, and arms will improve any physique. All while using only your bodyweight. You don’t need a gym to find plenty of gains.

• How to Do the Pull-Up 
• Pull-Up Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Pull-Up
• Muscles Worked by the Pull-Up
• Who Should Do the Pull-Up
• How to Program the Pull-Up
• Pull-Up Variations
• Pull-Up Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Pull-Up

Pull-ups are a great addition to any strength program. The simple movement of lifting yourself up to a bar will provide a great range of benefits that assist in general strength, posture, and core stability.

Step 1 — Hang From a Bar

Start hanging from a straight bar with your core stabilized to prevent your body from swaying. Set your hands so they’re a smidge wider than shoulder-width using a pronated (overhand or palms down) grip. To maintain balance and coordination, you can cross one foot over the other at your ankles.

Form Tip: When stabilizing your core, imagine someone is about to punch you in the stomach. The initial flinch of tightening your stomach will place you in an effective bracing position.

Step 2 — Pull Your Chest Towards the Bar

Take a breath before beginning to pull yourself towards the bar. Pull your shoulder blades together to recruit your upper back muscles. Maintain that squeeze while bending your elbows to raise your body. Exhale throughout the movement. Lean back very slightly on the way up.

When your neck is near the bar, you’ve completed the concentric (pulling) portion of the rep. In the top position, your torso should be angled slightly backwards with your elbows near your ribs.

Form Tip: To improve muscle coordination and muscle fiber recruitment, pause at the top for one or two seconds.

Step 3 — Lower Under Control

Start the eccentric (lowering) portion of the rep by extending your elbows to lower your body. Breathe in and keep your core engaged. Do not swing to create momentum between each rep. Keep your legs hanging directly down.

Form Tip:To improve the quality of each rep and prevent any swaying, lower yourself over two seconds and pause at the bottom before beginning the next rep.

Pull-Up Mistakes to Avoid

The pull-up is a basic bodyweight exercise, but there are several common technique errors to avoid in order to build strength and muscle while reducing joint strain.

Not Using a Full Range of Motion

The half-rep pull-up is an all too common issue seen in many gyms. Some lifters smash out rep after rep while only descending halfway down before rushing straight back to the top. When it comes to maximizing strength and muscle gains, these half-reps are counterproductive.

The shortened range of motion reduces the muscle’s time under tension, which can reduce muscle growth and strength development.

Avoid it: Leave your ego at the door and focus on quality reps over quantity. Lower yourself into a fully stretched position before re-engaging your muscles to lift yourself back up.

Excessive Swinging

Stabilizing the body is crucial for minimizing stress on the shoulder joint. If you are trying to build strength and muscle, using an excessive amount of swinging is not going to help and may make things worse in the long run.

CrossFit training has popularized “kipping pull-ups”, a specific exercise variation which has the trainee deliberately swing the lower body back and forth throughout each rep. This generates momentum which helps to perform high-rep sets and turns the back-building pull-up into a full-body exercise. Kipping is a specific technique used for a specific purpose. It’s also a deliberately learned skill, it’s not meant to be an accidental way to perform basic pull-ups.

Avoid it: Focus on the core-engaging cue explained in step one of the setup. While hanging and before pulling, flex your stomach as if you were about to be punched in the gut. Maintain this ab tension throughout each rep.

Benefits of the Pull-Up

The pull-up is a second-to-none vertical pulling exercise. When performed correctly, it can emphasize the development of strength and muscle across the entire upper body, support overall posture, and help general shoulder and upper back mobility.

Getting Bigger and Stronger

Because so many muscles are involved in the exercise, the pull-up delivers a serious bang for your buck. This one movement builds muscle through the entire back, shoulders, and arms. Even the abs get a solid workout. It is also a very easy exercise to progressively overload (make more challenging, often with added weight), which makes the exercise ideal for building strength.

Carries Over to Multiple Exercises

The pull-up recruits and builds muscles which play key roles in many other lifts. Strengthening these support muscles translates to improvement in other exercises. For example, strengthening the lats, upper back, and middle back can carryover to the bench press where you need to retract your shoulder blades into the bench to create stability and control when pressing a heavy weight.

Better Grip Strength

While there are specific exercises to build a stronger grip, simply performing the pull-up strengthens your forearms and grip without additional wear and tear that may occur from more grip-focused exercises like the deadlift. Because you’re hanging from the bar supporting your bodyweight during each set, your grip strength is being consistently trained from the first rep to the last.

Muscles Worked by Pull-Up

The pull-up is a compound movement, meaning it involves multiple joints and recruits multiple muscle groups at once. Here’s a breakdown of the muscles worked by the pull-up.

Latissimus Dorsi

The lats are the largest back muscle, attaching at the upper arm and along the spine near the lower back. They serve two primary functions. First, they bring the arm closer to the body from out to the side. Second, they bring the arm closer to the body from out in front. This is why the lats are heavily activated when your arms begin overhead and pull down and in to raise your body during a pull-up.

Upper Back

The upper back (generally including the rear deltoid of the shoulder, the trapezius, and the rhomboids) functions to control movement of the scapulae (shoulder blades) and to support the shoulder joints under muscular stress, particularly in the bottom portion of the pull-up.

Trapezius

While sections of the traps fall into the “upper back” category, the trapezius is a large muscle on its own and serves a big role during pull-ups. The middle portion of the traps help to pull your shoulders back while extending your elbows behind you while also stabilizing your shoulders when you move your arms.Your lower traps are crucial to many other lifts and are highly activated during pull-ups. (1)

Biceps Brachii

The biceps are composed of two heads: a long head commonly referred to as the “outer” and a short head referred to as the “inner.” Both muscle heads originate at the scapulae and insert on the radius bone of the forearm. The biceps play a relatively smaller, but important, role during pull-ups to complete the top part of the movement. They are more significantly activated and play a larger role in the chin-up variation.

Lower Back

The muscles of the lower back, or lumbar spine, have been shown to be recruited during pull-ups even though they aren’t moved through a significant range of motion. Because these muscles control your torso bending at the hips, they work during the exercise to maintain a stable core position and keep a straight line from your shoulders to your knees or feet.

Rectus Abdominis

The abs are surprisingly worked to a very significant degree during pull-ups. While most lifters are more familiar with the abs’ role in flexing your torso in a curled position, they’re highly activated to maintain a stiff, solid torso. Similar to the lower back, the abs work to prevent bending at the hips.

Who Should Do the Pull-Up

Training for Bodyweight Strength

Many bodyweight training-focused lifters consider the pull-up to be an essential test of strength. Because strength is a skill, if you want to improve your pull-up numbers, you need to get better at the exercise itself. This skill comes from repeated efforts, rep after rep.

Training for Muscle

To increase muscularity, the pull-up should be a recurring movement in your workouts. The activation of multiple muscles combined with a long range of motion provide a muscle-building stimulus that very few upper body exercises can match.

How to Program the Pull-Up

The pull-up can be programmed with a variety of sets, reps, and tempo schemes. The exercise is ideally performed at the beginning of your workout. This will make sure your body has the energy required to perform this comprehensive movement without sacrificing your technique or increasing injury risk.

Weighted, Low Repetition

To maximize basic strength in the pull-up, completing four to six sets in the three to six rep range is the place to start. Use a weight that leaves you with at least two reps left “in the tank” to avoid reaching muscular failure. A rest period of three to five minutes between each set will ensure you lift with maximum effort.

However, to ensure proper technique, you should only add weight once you can comfortably handle moderate to high-rep sets using your bodyweight.

Unweighted, Moderate Repetition

To ensure growth in the working muscles, three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range will increase overall training volume, which is beneficial for building muscle. (2) The multiple sets and reps also allow you to improve your pull-up technique.

Modified Cluster Sets

Some lifters, especially beginners, may not be able to perform pull-ups for multiple sets of multiple reps. Even performing one or two reps may be challenging. This is where cluster sets are beneficial. Cluster sets allow a lifter to perform multiple low-rep “mini-sets” (or clusters) with a heavy weight while avoiding excessive muscular fatigue. You can apply the same technique to bodyweight pull-ups.

This modified cluster set method will have three sets of three reps in one cluster (if you can currently perform four or five reps with good form). Perform three reps, rest for 15 to 30 seconds, perform another three reps, rest for 15 to 30 seconds, and perform a final group of three reps. That entire series is one set. Take two minutes rest before repeating two more sets.

Because three sets of three cluster reps is comparable to performing nine reps in a single set. This will allow you to get stronger, maximize the recruitment of high-threshold muscle fibers (specialized muscle fibers which improve power output), and increase total working volume which can lead to more muscle.

Note: If you cannot perform three reps with good technique, you can use the cluster set method while performing one or two reps per cluster.

Pull-Up Variations

The basic pull-up is staple in many experienced lifters’ routines, but simple variations can be used for specific goals. Even after you’ve mastered the pull-up, you can implement some of these variations into your training.

Negative Pull-Ups

To perform negative pull-ups, you will need to stand on a box or bench under a pull-up bar. Take hold of the bar with a basic shoulder-width grip and jump up to get your chin above the bar.

Take at least five seconds to lower yourself into the stretched position. Once fully stretched, put your feet on the box again, return to the top position, and repeat until you hit your target rep range.

Chin-Up

One of the most basic pull-up variations is simply reversing your grip. By grabbing the bar with a supinated (underhand or palm-up) grip, you more directly recruit the biceps.

This makes the exercise fit very well into a specific arm workout or it can add “extra” arm training to your back workout.

Wide-Grip Pull-Up

The wide-grip pull-up requires grabbing the bar several inches wider than shoulder-width. Pull yourself up as high as possible and lower yourself under complete control.

The different grip changes the arm position overhead, which changes the range of motion and puts the lats, upper back, and biceps under a different angle of stretch, which creates a unique training stimulus.

Pull-Up Alternatives

You might not be ready to complete a full set of pull-ups, which is no big deal because we all start somewhere. The first priority is understanding the prime movers involved in the pull-up and how to strengthen them. The muscles most activated in the pull-up are the lats, mid and lower traps, biceps, and your core. (3) The following exercises will help you build strength in these important muscle groups.

Scapula Pull-Ups

Scapula pull-ups can help strengthen your grip and lower traps which both play a large role in performing the full pull-up effectively.

Start by hanging from the bar with a shoulder-width grip. Keep your shoulders “shrugged” down away from your ears. Without bending at your elbows, pull your scapulae downwards while pulling your body up. It’s a very short but impactful range of motion. Hold for a slight pause at the top and lower yourself slowly by allowing your scapula to “open up” until you are at a full stretch.

To progress, start by increasing the amount of reps done in each set until you can handle 12 to 15. Once mastered, this exercise can be used within your general warm-up sequence before full pull-ups.

Kneeling Lat Pulldowns

The kneeling lat pulldown will help strengthen the lats, core, and biceps. Use a cable machine, kneeling on the ground while mimicking the exact same starting position as you would for the pull-up.

Keep yourself upright with your glutes flexed to provide stability and increase core activation. Every muscle must remain tight from the ground up.

To progress, you can introduce one and one-half reps — one full rep includes pulling all the way down, releasing the weight halfway up, pulling down again, and releasing to a full stretch. This is a great technique that can be used to emphasize the tension placed on the muscles from both the start of the pull-up and the end of the pull-up.

Inverted Row

The inverted row will help to strengthen the pulling strength of your lats, core, and arms while also emphasizing the mid-traps and upper back. A Smith machine is perfect for this exercise since you can easily adjust the height of the bar while also being in a stable, fixed position.

To progress, lower the height of the bar to adjust leverage and increase the challenge. Eventually you can elevate your feet to put your entire body into a more horizontal position.

Banded Pull-Ups

The banded pull-up is a great way to improve your muscle coordination from a neurological standpoint since strength is a skill built on repetition. (4) The banded pull-up is going to allow you to better prepare yourself to perform the concentric (pulling) portion of the movement since the bands will assist your strength in the bottom position.

Attach a resistance band to the top of a bar and get yourself into position with the band supporting your body, either with bent knees or keeping your legs straight.

To progress, make your way up resistance bands offering less resistance until you are ready to perform your pull-ups with full bodyweight.

FAQs

Can I get a six-pack from doing pull-ups?

No single exercise can give you a six-pack. That can only be achieved through a reduction in body fat, fat loss-focused training, and a calorie-controlled nutrition plan.

With that being said, pull-ups may help with improving the final look of your abs because they are heavily recruited during the exercise, as explained in the muscles-worked section. Pull-ups are an awesome and overlooked exercise for training your abs. You can expect a more prominent set of abs once you do get lean enough.

When can I start performing weighted pull-ups?

The exact timeframe can vary from individual to individual since some people are capable of performing pull-ups in a very short time. However, once you can accomplish three to four sets of 12 reps using your bodyweight, you’ve likely built the technique, coordination, and strength to tackle low-rep weighted pull-ups.

How many times per week should I perform pull-ups?

For building strength and muscle, and taking into consideration the recovery ability of the involved muscle groups, performing this exercise twice per week will be the best place to start. (5) Make sure to give yourself at least two or three days rest between workouts.

For the purpose of getting more technique practice and perfecting this movement, you can implement bodyweight pull-ups as a part of your general warm-up for upper body workouts or even for workouts where a back-focused exercise like the deadlift may be performed. The aim for this technique training would be not to fatigue your back muscles, but to mobilize and activate the associated muscles that are going to be used in those workouts..

References

1. Youdas JW, Amundson CL, Cicero KS, Hahn JJ, Harezlak DT, Hollman JH. Surface electromyographic activation patterns and elbow joint motion during a pull-up, chin-up, or perfect-pullup rotational exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Dec;24(12):3404-14. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181f1598c. PMID: 21068680.
2. Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Krieger J, et al. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51(1):94-103. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764
3. Hewit, Jennifer. (2018). A Comparison of Muscle Activation during the Pull-up and Three Alternative Pulling Exercises. Journal of Physical Fitness, Medicine & Treatment in Sports. 5. 10.19080/JPFMTS.2018.05.555669.
4. Ochi, E., Maruo, M., Tsuchiya, Y., Ishii, N., Miura, K., & Sasaki, K. (2018). Higher Training Frequency Is Important for Gaining Muscular Strength Under Volume-Matched Training. Frontiers in physiology, 9, 744. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00744
5. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8

Featured Image: UfaBizPhoto / Shutterstock

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Because you have the potential to put so much weight on the bar, the bench press is the greatest weapon in your exercise arsenal for gaining upper body strength and muscle mass. The heavier you can go on the weight bench, the bigger your upper body.

Here’s everything you need to know about performing the bench press to build a larger, stronger, more muscular chest.

• How to Do the Bench Press 
• Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Bench Press
• Muscles Worked by the Bench Press
• Who Should Do the Bench Press
• How to Program the Bench Press
• Bench Press Variations 
• Bench Press Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Bench Press

The bench press is a foundational exercise, beneficial for nearly every lifter in the gym. While some lifters over-focus on the exercise or misuse it, potentially leading to injury, it can play a key role in building muscle and strength for beginners as well as experienced lifters.

Learning proper techniques is essential for maximizing benefits and minimizing injury risk. the steps below will be your best place to start.

Step 1 — Initial Setup

Lie flat on the bench with your head beneath the bar. Put your feet up on the bench, grab the bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Place your feet on the ground with your knees bent. Shifting your heels towards the bench will allow more lower body tension and force production.

Feel a strong connection to the bench through your entire body. Maintain your shoulder blades in a retracted position. Squeeze the bar with both hands to ensure tightness.

Form Tip: Your grip width can play a role in targeting or emphasizing certain muscles during the bench press. A wider grip will target the sternal head (inner portion) of the pecs and anterior delts (front shoulder) more, while a closer grip will focus more on the triceps and clavicular (upper) chest. (1) Begin training with a shoulder-width grip to build muscle coordination and reduce joint strain. Implement some slight changes in your grip as you become more experienced.

Step 2 — Lift Off

Actively press your feet into the floor, trying to get your heels flat on the ground. This creates tension throughout your lower body. Take a deep breath and hold it while lifting the bar off the rack by straightening your arms. The bar should be lined up above your shoulders with both arms locked out.

Form Tip: Avoid “pushing” the bar upward out of the hooks as you may protract (spread) your shoulder blades, putting the shoulder joints into a weaker position.. The bar should be set at a height that keeps your arms only slightly bent before unracking. If you have longer arms, use a top rack position. If you have shorter arms, use a lower rack position.

Step 3 — Descend With Control

With the barbell beginning directly over your shoulders, break at the elbows and lower the bar towards your mid-chest. Tuck your elbows slightly towards your feet. Keep your forearms vertical, and don’t let them collapse towards your head or feet as you continue to hold your breath at the bottom. Touch the bar to the same point on your chest on every rep.

Form Tip: The barbell should move down and slightly away from your shoulder level. Don’t attempt to lower the bar in a straight line to your upper chest. Doing so increases joint strain and decreases power output. Think of performing a very slight arc.

Step 4 — Press to Lockout

Once the barbell touches your chest, pause very briefly and then aggressively drive it back to the starting position. Release your breath as you press up. The barbell should move up and back towards your head. Your shoulders, elbows, and wrists should end up in vertical alignment, or “stacked”, when the rep is complete.

Form Tip: When pressing up, keep your butt in contact with the bench. Drive into the floor with your feet. This engagement from your lower body muscles will help you to drive the weight up, which is necessary to move heavier loads.

Bench Press Mistakes to Avoid

The bench press is a common exercise in most gyms, but it’s also common to see a few recurring technique errors. Here are the most common issues to avoid in order to get better results more efficiently.

No Upper Back Tightness

Upper back tightness is crucial for a safe and effective bench press. This is why it’s important to maintain retracted scapulae (shoulder blades) throughout the entire set. Emphasize consistent upper back tightness to better serve your shoulder health and to create more stability when lifting.

By retracting the scapulae, you activate the many muscles of the upper back like the traps, rear delts, and rhomboids. These muscles work with the chest and triceps to lower the bar under control and transition smoothly and powerfully into the press.

Avoid it: Make sure you are adequately activating your scapulae by “puffing your chest up” prior to gripping the bar. This is a very distinct cue to get your chest, shoulders, and upper back into a proper position.

No Leg Drive

Many people incorrectly think that performing the bench press with their ankles crossed and their feet up in the air will provide some sort of added benefit. It doesn’t. Picking up your feet leads to a decrease in stability, which hinders your ability to lift heavier weights.

This lack of stability also increases your risk of injury because the weight is solely supported by the shoulder joints and upper back muscles, rather than being distributed throughout the entire body from head to toe.

Avoid it: To maximize your stability, set your feet closer under your hips, rather than spread farther away in front of you. You should be able to maintain steady foot pressure into the floor. This added pressure will help transfer force from the floor up and into the bar when you drive through your legs.

Driving your feet into the floor also increases overall stability, much like how a table with four legs on the ground is more stable than a table with only three legs on the ground.

Weak Wrists

Having a firm grip and strong wrists is another overlooked component of the bench press. Many lifters tend to neglect “stacking” their wrists.

Instead, they allow their hands to bend backwards and palms to face the ceiling. This knuckles-back position creates an unstable wrist position and a weaker grip.

Avoid it: It may feel awkward at first, proper positioning often does, but vertically stacking your joints under the bar will create a stronger overall position to lift from. Try to “press” your thumb back into the bar, rather than only holding the bar with four fingers. This additional focus will force you to take a very firm grip and force your wrist into a stacked, neutral position without bending backwards.

Benefits of the Bench Press

The bench press allows you to load the upper body with heavier weights than any other exercise. This strengthens multiple muscle groups while also having the highest activation of the chest itself.

Maximizing Chest Strength and Growth

EMG research has shown the bench press to be incredibly effective at maximally activating the entire chest musculature. (2)(3) This means the bench press should be a staple in any programming focused on getting stronger and building muscle.

Time Efficient

Due to the high level of muscle activation, and the multiple muscles being engaged, the bench press is a wise choice for any lifter short on training time. If you find yourself performing limited exercises per session, then you need a movement that targets several muscles at once. The bench press is one of the most efficient upper body exercises.

Muscles Worked by the Bench Press

The bench press works multiple muscle groups on the upper body. This is why it’s a foundational movement for beginners to learn, as well as a reliable exercise for experienced lifters looking to maximize strength and muscle.

Pectoralis Major

As the main “chest” muscle, the pectoralis major’s primary function is to adduct the shoulder in the transverse plane — bring the elbows in closer to one another. The pec major has two heads, the sternal (mid and lower chest) and the clavicular (upper). Both pec heads are active in the bench press.

Anterior Delts

The entire shoulder muscle is recruited during the bench press, but the anterior (front) head to the deltoid is most prominently recruited during the exercise. The anterior deltoid’s primary function is to raise your arm up toward your head, as performed during the bench press motion.

Triceps Brachii

The triceps brachii extends the elbow and takes the arm from a bent to straightened position. This is an essential movement during the bench press, specifically during the lockout portion where the triceps are most involved.

Latissimus Dorsi

One of the largest muscles of the back are the lats. They bring the shoulder joint into a neutral position. When your shoulder is in a stretched position at the bottom of the bench press and your upper arm is “behind” your back”, your lats help to bring your arms back in line with your torso to resume the press.

Upper Back

The muscles of the upper back — the trapezius, rear deltoids, and rhomboids — work together to support shoulder stability during the bench press and to allow a full range of motion at the shoulder joint, in both the bottom and top positions.

Who Should Do the Bench Press

The bench press is an exercise everyone can use. Lifters who want to get into better shape and maximize their strength potential, athletes looking for speed and power, and competitive powerlifters who need to move maximum weight should all be training the bench press.

Training for Strength

Strength is movement-specific. (4) The skill of performing a heavy bench press is built by repetition after repetition. Any strength athlete, like a competitive powerlifter, who needs to get stronger at the bench press needs to practice the bench press. Prioritizing other exercises will not deliver the best results or build the most strength in this specific movement. 

Training for Muscle

To increase muscularity, make the bench press a frequently recurring movement in your workouts. The muscle activation, number of muscles recruited, relatively long range of motion, and overall muscle-building stimulus provide a significant and unique muscular stress compared to other upper body exercises.

Training for Sport

Building power, strength, and speed throughout the entire upper body will be a benefit to any athlete in nearly any sport. The bench press is often seen in training specifically for sports with a high level of physicality such as football or rugby. Increasing the pushing power of the chest, shoulders, and arms carries over to the demands of the field.

How to Program the Bench Press

The barbell bench press can be programmed with a variety of set and rep schemes and should be performed early in a workout when your body is minimally fatigued and maximally focused to reap all of the benefits of this comprehensive movement.

Heavy Weight, Low Repetition

To maximize strength, four to six sets in the three to six rep range is a good place to start. Use a weight that leaves you with at least one rep left “in the tank” to avoid reaching muscular failure. A rest period of three to five minutes between each set will ensure you lift with maximum effort.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

To build a bigger chest, working for three to four sets in the six to 12 rep range will give you a nice bump in training volume, which is beneficial for building muscle. (5) The multiple sets and reps also allow you to develop your bench press technique without excessive fatigue from heavier weights.

Performing the bench press for higher repetitions (12 to 20, or more) is more appropriate for dumbbell or machine variations done later in the workout. This allows you to maximize the muscle-recruitment and heavier loading benefits of the standard barbell bench press when you are fresh at the start of your training.

Moderate Weight, Low Repetition

To build explosive power and speed, use a submaximal weight that can be moved at fast speeds while maintaining that speed during each rep of each set. A basic approach is to work for six to eight sets of two to five reps, using a weight that does not push you close to muscular failure. If you want to move like an athlete or train for sport, this method should be a staple.

Bench Press Variations

Whether you are just getting started on your lifting journey or have joint issues that prevent barbell training, you can still focus on effective bench press progressions and variations. These will allow you to train the muscles associated with the movement safely and progressively.

Bodyweight Push-up

Start from the ground up, figuratively and literally, with a fundamental bodyweight exercise that can be used daily. Perform full push-ups on your hands and toes, keeping a straight line throughout your entire body.

If needed, you can make the movement even easier by starting on your knees instead of your toes.  You can also perform elevated push-ups, by pacing your hands on a bench or plyo box. 

Resistance Band Push-up

A resistance band will not only increase the challenge to your chest, shoulders, and triceps but will also create a high level of upper pec activation.

The band will add resistance throughout the entire range of motion, increasing intensity as it stretches. In the top position, the band in under maximum stretch and is providing the most resistance. In the bottom position, the band is only slightly stretched and offers slight resistance. This is known as “accommodating resistance” which maximizes stress on the muscles and minimizes strain on the joints.

Weighted Push-up

Add even more resistance to the basic push-up by wearing a weighted vest, a loaded backpack, or simply balancing a weight plate on your mid- to lower back. The key with this exercise is maintaining a controlled tempo throughout each rep.

Pressing and lowering slowly will not only ensure the weight stays in place, but is also a technique to increase the overall time under tension, which makes the movement even more challenging.

Machine Chest Press

Using one of your gym’s chest press machines will challenge your muscles very similar to a bench press since you will be able to add a greater amount of load.

Make sure to use a pronated (palms down) grip so that you can best mimic the grip used in the bench press and recruit muscles in a similar way.

Bench Press Alternatives

While the bench press is a fundamental exercise with many benefits, some related exercises can deliver unique additional benefits while supporting the muscles involved in the bench press and complementing strength development.

Floor Press

The floor press is exactly as it sounds — performing the bench press on the floor without a bench. This can be a great tool that creates a partial range of motion, since you can only take your elbows to the floor. This makes it ideal for lifters who experience shoulder pain in the lowest range of motion of the bench press, when the bar touches the chest.

Focusing on the upper half of the range of motion also emphasizes triceps recruitment because the triceps are significantly recruited in that portion of the movement. This makes the floor press an effective choice for lifters needing to improve lockout strength in the full bench press.

Pin Press

The pin press is another partial range of motion movement, specifically used to assist with lockout strength in the top position. Some lifters can load up as much as 10-30% of the weight normally lifted on the full bench press.

The pin press is also an effective strength-building tool because you come to a complete dead stop without at the bottom, resting on the pins instead of supporting the weight with your muscles or joints. This avoids adding extra pressure at the bottom of the standard bench press.

Smith Machine Bench Press

The Smith machine is nearly identical to performing a barbell bench press. One of the biggest differences is that, due to the design of the machine and the limited recruitment of stabilizing muscles, the weight used in the Smith machine will not directly carryover to the weight used with a barbell.

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However, the Smith machine can be a useful tool if you have any minor joint pains that may be aggravated when performing the free weight version, since the bar path is set in place, which allows a smoother transition of the movement.

FAQs

What should I do if I feel pain in my shoulders during the bench press?

First and foremost, it is important to address any joint pain with a medical professional and, at least temporarily, stop performing the bench press until you have an accurate diagnosis.

This does not mean the bench press is “bad” for you. In most cases, shoulder pain could be due to a breakdown in technique, incorrect set up, scapular instability, excessive load, or excessive volume.

Reviewing each of those parameters is essential to catching any problems before they become bigger issues. Focusing on the floor press instead of the barbell flat bench press could also be beneficial.

How many bench press variations should I perform in a workout?

Beginner lifters developing their base of strength and muscle can benefit from focusing only on the classic barbell bench press without any similar movements. It recruits a wide number of body parts and puts them under significant muscular stress. The focus and energy spent working on this big lift will pay dividends.

Experienced lifters training for muscular size may benefit from an overall program that incorporates more variety, while keeping the bench press as part of the program. Certainly, any lifter focused on increasing bench press strength should keep the exercise highly featured in their workout.

References

1. Barnett C, Kippers V, Turner P. Effects of Variations of the Bench Press Exercise on the EMG Activity of Five Shoulder Muscles. J Strength Condit Res. 1995;9(4):222–7.
2. Schick EE, Coburn JW, Brown LE, et al. A comparison of muscle activation between a Smith machine and free weight bench press. J strength Cond Res. 2010;24(3):779-784. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181cc2237.
3. Alberton CL, Lima CS, Moraes AC De. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORKLOAD AND NEUROMUSCULAR ACTIVITY IN THE BENCH PRESS EXERCISE. 2013;17(1):1-6.
4. Wilson GJ, Elliott BC, Kerr GK. Bar path profile characteristics for maximal and submaximal loads in the bench press. International Journal of Sport Biomechanics; 5: 390-402. 1989
5. Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Krieger J, et al. Resistance Training Volume Enhances Muscle Hypertrophy but Not Strength in Trained Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51(1):94-103. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000001764

Featured Image: YAKOBCHUK VIACHESLAV / Shutterstock

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The barbell skull crusher can improve strength in a variety of activities, especially the bench press and overhead press. When performed correctly, the exercise takes your triceps through a range of motion that will ignite your muscle-building potential and challenge the triceps in a way that few exercises can.

• How to Do the Barbell Skull Crusher 
• Barbell Skull Crusher Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Barbell Skull Crusher
• Muscles Worked by the Barbell Skull Crusher
• Who Should Do the Barbell Skull Crusher
• How to Program the Barbell Skull Crusher
• Barbell Skull Crusher Variations
• Barbell Skull Crusher Alternatives 
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Barbell Skull Crusher

Skull crushers may seem like a simple movement, but lifters don’t often optimize their position to get the most triceps growth for their buck. By applying simple changes to your body position, you can facilitate even more muscle growth while reducing strain on the elbow and shoulder joints.

Here’s what you need to know to perfect the movement and unlock its potential.

Step 1 — Get Into Position

Lie on a flat bench with a barbell held over your chest in a shoulder-width, palms-down grip, the same way you would when performing a bench press. If you have a training partner, they can help you get the bar into the starting position. If you’re training alone, you can use the bench press pins or “kick” the bar into position with your knees as you lie on the bench.

Limiting any arch of the lower back will help to create a more disadvantaged position for the triceps, meaning that the muscle will have to work harder. And working harder means you will build more size and strength.

Form Tip: Focus on keeping a “grounded” and fully engaged torso with no arch in your lower back. You can place your feet on the bench to focus on limiting torso extension.

Step 2 — Lower the Weight to a Full Stretch

Lower the barbell towards your forehead. This is where the “skull crusher” exercise gets its melodramatic name.

As you reach roughly the halfway point, slightly shift your elbows towards your head to maximize the stretch on the triceps. Just don’t let them move too far back, which would recruit your lats instead of emphasizing your triceps.

Form Tip: Range of motion is key here. Feeling the triceps stretched to their fullest will tell you if you have performed this part of exercise correctly. It is important to not relax the muscle and let the weight strain the joints at the bottom. Make a conscious effort to actively contract the triceps.

Step 3 — Extend Your Arms to Raise the Weight

Pause briefly in the fully stretched position before powerfully contracting your triceps to extend your arms. “Lift explosively, lower under control” is an effective way to approach both portions of this exercise.

In the top position, your arms should be locked out with the bar above your forehead, not your chest. This helps to maintain constant tension and can lead to more growth. With skull crushers, and many muscle-building movements, tension is the name of the game.

Form Tip: Keep your elbows steady while raising the weight. Focus on getting the weight up by flexing your triceps and driving your hands through the bar. In the lockout position, your triceps should still be under tension, not relaxed.

Barbell Skull Crusher Mistakes to Avoid

Smooth and strong execution is the key to make sure you’re actually targeting the triceps with skull crushers. Too often, lifters worry so much about moving heavy weights that they end up swinging their upper body and taking work away from the triceps.

Elbows Flaring Out

The primary function of the triceps is to produce elbow extension, or straightening of the arms. To do this, you want the elbows to be stable when performing barbell skull crushers. This allows a greater connection with the triceps without displacing stress to other muscles or providing added stress to the joints.

If your elbows flare out, then you lose the ability to maximize the tension placed on the triceps. You also place the delicate elbow joint into an unstable load-bearing position which can lead to pain and injury.

Avoid It: Maintain a strong abdominal brace and control your breathing pattern. This increases stability as a whole, from your torso through your arms, which will allow greater control when performing the movement. Choosing an appropriate weight and simply executing reps with controlled form is also essential.

Unstable Torso

Even though you’re lying on a flat bench, the torso plays a surprisingly large role when performing the barbell skull crusher. Some lifters allow their hips to shoot up, which leads to instability through the torso via extension (when you create a large arch in your lower back).

This will affect efficiency in recruiting your triceps because your shoulders and elbows are then shifted backwards, which causes the entire upper body to become unstable. This also turns the movement into a pullover variation, which puts more work onto the lats and serratus instead of the triceps.

Avoid It: Elevate your feet onto the bench or move the bench near a wall and place your feet on the wall during the set. This uncommon solution allows you to keep your torso in contact with the bench and be more stable, which enhances your ability to maintain tension on the triceps with increased stability from head to toe.

Benefits of the Barbell Skull Crusher

Some lifters choose to minimize or entirely overlook direct triceps exercises, like the barbell skull crusher. This approach to training is often based on the time-efficient but arguably effective system of relying on the triceps’ role as assistant muscles during larger exercises, such as presses, to provide sufficient stimulus.

Targeting the triceps directly with the barbell skull crusher can deliver greater overall results due to the increased muscle activation during the exercise.

Increase Lockout Strength

The triceps are responsible for complete elbow extension during upper body pressing movements such as the bench press or overhead press. The barbell skull crusher plays a huge role in developing your ability to successfully lockout each rep. Any lifter focused on improving these heavy lifts will see greater improvements and fewer weak points when implementing skull crushers into their program.

Build Bigger Arms

For some lifters, the goal of training is just to build a solid set of pipes. The triceps take up two-thirds of the upper arm, compared to the relatively smaller biceps, which means giving the triceps plenty of attention is a surefire way to increase arm size. The barbell skull crusher targets all three heads of the triceps for complete development.

Muscles Worked by the Barbell Skull Crusher

The barbell skull crusher primarily targets all three heads of the triceps muscle, with specific recruitment of the long head due to shoulder position during the exercise.

Triceps Brachii

The triceps brachii are “the triceps” on the back of the upper arm. It consists of three separate heads — the long, lateral, and medial — which function together to extend the arm. All three heads connect to the forearm bone, but only the long head attaches to the scapula while the other heads attach to the humerus (upper arm).

Because the long head crosses the shoulder joint with this unique attachment, it is emphasized when performing the barbell skull crusher (or any time the upper arm is involved in an exercise).

Who Should Do the Barbell Skull Crusher

No lifter should neglect this beneficial exercise. Its usefulness can specifically aid many other movements throughout your week of training.

Training for Strength and Power

Because the barbell skull crusher strengthens the triceps and improves lockout strength, lifters seeking to increase their bench press or overhead press will benefit greatly from adding skull crushers to their programming.

Training for Muscle

When a lifter’s goal is building bigger arms, the barbell skull crusher should be prioritized. The complete muscle recruitment of the triceps, with specific emphasis on the long head, influences muscle growth unlike many other triceps exercises.

How to Program the Barbell Skull Crusher

The triceps have been shown to have a high degree of type II muscle fibers. These “fast-twitch” fibers allow the triceps to respond exceptionally well to explosive-type power training and heavy lifting. (1)(2) . However, to recruit all muscle fiber types for optimal development, using a mix of rep ranges has been shown to be best. (3)

It is important to note that the triceps are activated during horizontal and vertical pressing movements, with horizontal presses (like the bench press) recruiting more triceps compared to vertical presses (like the shoulder press). (4) The inclusion of isolation exercises like the barbell skull crusher will be necessary to fully stimulate the triceps for maximum results.

Higher frequency training has been shown to be more effective than lower frequency work. (5) Start with training the triceps twice per week and slowly graduate to three days per week for maximum growth.

Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

On days when you perform overhead pressing (shoulder) exercises, which recruit the triceps to a lesser degree, perform the barbell skull crusher for three or four sets of 10 to 12 reps to maximally activate the triceps. This approach is best complemented by training triceps in an additional workout using a different set and rep range for improved overall results.

Lighter Weight, Higher Repetition

Two to four days after the first workout, ideally on a day you incorporate horizontal (chest) pressing exercises, train triceps using three or four sets of 12 to 20 reps. This diverse stimulus allows sufficient recovery from the previous workout. Pairing lighter weight, higher-rep triceps training with relatively heavy chest exercises also helps to reduce strain on the elbow joints.

Working the triceps multiple times per week using a variety of sets, reps, and loads is an almost-perfect way to build bigger, stronger triceps in a safe and effective manner.

Barbell Skull Crusher Variations

Many beginners jump right into exercises that require a certain level of technique. While the barbell skull crusher is not super-technical, it does involve some specific considerations to maximize the recruitment of the triceps. Learning effective variations may be more appropriate for lifters having trouble with the barbell movement or lifters looking for variety.

Resistance Band Skull Crusher

Use the same body position and flat bench setup as the barbell skull crusher with one small difference. Wrap a resistance band under the head side of the bench or around a heavy barbell on the floor.

Lie down and grab the band with your palms facing the ceiling. Begin from the stretched position and extend your arms overhead.

Flat Bench Cable Triceps Extension

Set a bench in front of a cable machine. Attach an angled bar to the lower pulley. Lie on the bench with your head nearest the cable and perform a skull crusher, starting from the bottom position to full lockout.

This variation is a great opportunity to practice the entire technique before getting yourself under some heavier loads. Also, the cable provides more constant tension on the muscle since it’s taut throughout the entirety of the exercise’s range of motion.

Dumbbell Skull Crusher

Lie back onto a flat bench with a pair of dumbbells. Begin with the weights above your chest, similar to a dumbbell bench press. Lower the weight under control towards your head, angling your hands inwards to touch the top of your shoulders.

Contract your triceps to fully extend your arms and begin lowering into the next rep. Once you can perform these with control, you will be ready to get yourself under the bar for some more intense skull crushers.

Barbell Skull Crusher Alternatives

The barbell skull crusher is one very effective type of triceps extension, but other triceps extension exercises can be useful for bulking up the triceps. Here are some great alternatives to consider based on your overall program and available equipment.

Overhead Extension

If you have good shoulder mobility and healthy elbows, overhead extensions will put your triceps into an even deeper stretch in the bottom position. This increased range of motion should stimulate even more muscle growth.

Cable triceps extensions are a great alternative to the barbell. The main differences are the loading (because cable exercise cannot be progressed as heavily as barbells) and the positioning of the upper arm.

Tricep Pressdown

Triceps pressdowns can be less stressful on the elbow joint than barbell skull crushers.

They won’t work your triceps through as deep of a stretch, which means the muscle-building stimulus may be reduced. The biggest advantage is that pressdowns tend to be easier on the elbows, especially if using a rope handle attachment.

Close-Grip Bench Press

Because the bench press is so conducive to higher loading, it’s a perfect choice for a triceps-focused heavy movement. Heavier loads have been shown to elicit higher levels of triceps activation, so this exercise is best programmed in a lower rep range. (6)

A shoulder-width grip produces more triceps activation than a wider bench press grip, and an inside-shoulder-width grip creates even greater triceps recruitment (7) However, such an extremely close-grip can provide unwanted strain on your wrists and limit the range of motion. For optimal results, use a shoulder-width grip to emphasize the triceps.

Time to Crush the Triceps

Barbell skull crushers will always be a mainstay in triceps workouts. The range of motion and muscle recruitment are nearly impossible to duplicate with other exercises. It improves your bench press and builds bigger arms. If those aren’t two of the most popular goals in the gym, then what are?

FAQs

How can I increase the weight used in this exercise?

A large part of moving heavier weights will stem from your ability to keep your torso stable through bracing. Tighten your stomach as if you were getting punched. This increases engagement of your entire core and helps to produce head-to-toe stability.

Increased stability allows you to more effectively manage each rep — lowering the barbell to the fully lengthened bottom position and making sure the triceps are contracting to move the barbell back up, not just waving your arms up and down.

An essential element in training is being able to produce the effort required for each rep. Most of the time, effort is the amount of weight being lifted. But never lose focus on your ability to maintain tension on the triceps. If you are not strong enough to keep your torso stable, then the tension shifts off of the triceps and you are left open to an injury or, worse, wasted time.

What do I do if my elbows hurt when performing skull crushers?

Complaints of discomfort and pain in the elbows are common during some triceps exercises, especially if the lifter has pre-existing joint problems. Overhead extensions are generally the most troublesome exercise, but skull crushers may still cause problems.

Performing your heavier pressing exercises first in your workouts will effectively warm-up your elbows before hitting skull crushers. The heavier work will also fatigue your triceps, leading to a reduction in weight used for skull crushers.

A lighter weight also allows a higher rep range. Remember, using heavy loads is not the most important training variable. Maintaining tension on the triceps and maximizing the range of motion can lead to greater benefits. If you have been performing 6-10 reps, move into 12-20 reps.

You can also use a different skull crusher variation. Instead of a straight barbell, try the EZ-bar to slightly adjust the wrist and elbow angle during the exercise. If that doesn’t help enough, use dumbbells or a cable variation, either with both arms or as single-arm exercises to strengthen each triceps individually.

References

1. Talbot J, Maves L. Skeletal muscle fiber type: using insights from muscle developmental biology to dissect targets for susceptibility and resistance to muscle disease. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2016;5(4):518-534. doi:10.1002/wdev.230
2. Terzis G, Georgiadis G, Vassiliadou E, Manta P. Relationship between shot put performance and triceps brachii fiber type composition and power production. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2003;90(1-2):10-15. doi:10.1007/s00421-003-0847-x
3. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Van Every DW, Plotkin DL. Loading Recommendations for Muscle Strength, Hypertrophy, and Local Endurance: A Re-Examination of the Repetition Continuum. Sports. 2021; 9(2):32. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9020032
4. Barnett C, Kippers V, Turner P. Effects of variations of the bench press exercise on the EMG Activity of 5 Shoulder Muscles. 1995:222-227.
5. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8
6. Schoenfeld, Brad & Contreras, Bret & Vigotsky, Andrew & Ogborn, Daniel & Fontana, Fabio & Tiryaki-Sonmez, Raziye. (2016). Upper body muscle activation during low-versus high-load resistance exercise in the bench press. Isokinetics and Exercise Science. 24. 217-224. 10.3233/IES-160620.
7. Lehman G. J. (2005). The influence of grip width and forearm pronation/supination on upper-body myoelectric activity during the flat bench press. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 19(3), 587–591. https://doi.org/10.1519/R-15024.1

Featured Image: Serghei Starus / Shutterstock

The post How to Do the Barbell Skull Crusher for Triceps Size and Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Want to bring up your bench press? A strong set of horseshoe triceps will help you when locking out the weight. If you struggle with pull-ups, underdeveloped biceps may be holding you back.

Whether you are just beginning your training journey, have been hitting the gym for years, or have no equipment at all but still want great results, you can find the perfect arm workout to get you closer to those goals. Dive in, choose your plan of attack, and get working.

The Best Arm Workouts

• Best Bodyweight Arm Workout
• Best Arm Workout for Beginners
• Best Arm Workout With Dumbbells
• Best Muscle-Building Arm Workout

Best Bodyweight Arm Workout

Bodyweight training may not seem like a popular option to consider, but focusing on bodyweight movements can translate into improved body awareness, better muscular coordination, and more exercise options once you start to add weight in the gym.

The Arms Mastery Bodyweight Workout

This workout is designed to be simple and effective. Get stronger, improve muscle coordination, and feel a pump that you never thought could be possible with just your body weight.

You will perform two exercises in a superset fashion with the inclusion of the “contrast training method.” Contrast training is when you start a set using a slow-and-controlled rep speed and finish the set performing reps explosively. This contrasting tempo recruits more muscle fibers, which leads to increased power output and an increased stimulus for muscle growth.

Tempo is indicated by a series of four numbers. The first number addresses the speed for lowering the weight (stretching the muscle), the second number refers to any pause in the stretched position, the third number is the speed to raise the weight (contracting the muscle), and the fourth number covers any pause in the contracted position. The third number, in particular, may sometimes be an “X” instead of an actual number. This means the movement should be performed as quickly as possible. Think of the “X” as “explosive”.

For example, using the contrast training method, perform the first six to eight reps working at a 5-0-1-0 tempo — take five seconds to lower the weight (yourself, in this case). Take no rest before immediately raising the weight for one second. Lockout but do not rest at the top before beginning the next repetition. For the next six to eight reps of the same set, you will use a 2-0-x-0 tempo — two seconds to lower, no rest, as fast as possible upwards, and then no rest at the top position.

The amount of reps in this bodyweight workout may not seem too difficult at first, but take into account the total time under tension. The first half of your set can take more than 45 seconds followed by another 20+ seconds, resulting in more than one intense minute for each set.

Diamond Push-up

• How to Do it: Support your body on your toes and hands. Set your hands directly underneath your chest to create a triangle or “diamond” shape with your thumbs and index fingers. Your hands do not need to be touching. Keeping them a few inches apart may be more comfortable for your wrist and elbow joints. Maintain a straight line from your neck to your ankles during each rep. Bend your elbows to lower your entire body. Press to full lockout. Allow your elbows to sit roughly at a 45-degree angle towards your body.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 4 x 12-16 using contrast training. Each set should be 6-8 reps at 5-0-1-0 tempo followed by 6-8 reps at 2-0-X-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving to the next exercise.

Inverted Biceps Curl With Towel 

• How to Do it: Wrap a sturdy towel around any fixed object that can support your bodyweight, such as a rail, staircase, or fence. Grab the towel with your thumbs up and the material running out of the pinky-side of the hand. Shift your weight onto your heels. A lower body angle will be more challenging, so adjust the towel length and position your body accordingly. Flex your biceps and curl to pull yourself up. Supinate your wrists (rotate your palms towards you) as you come to the last quarter of the contraction. Your palms should end up directly in front of your face.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 4 x 12-16 using contrast training. Each set should be 6-8 reps at 5-0-1-0 tempo followed by 6-8 reps at 2-0-X-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving back to diamond push-ups.

Best Arm Workout For Beginners

So you are just starting your fitness journey. That’s good. But you might be thinking the way to a bigger, stronger, and more functional set of arms is all about getting as pumped as possible. Nope.

It’s important to understand that you cannot rush this process and, much like the larger muscle groups that most trainees dedicate time to, improving the arms should be no different.

The biceps and triceps receive a portion of the tension in almost every exercise involving the chest or back. This indirect work should still be counted towards your overall weekly “arm training” volume. It is also important to understand that, in the initial weeks of starting any new program, you will see an improvement in neuromuscular adaptations before muscle growth can occur. (1)

Essentially, when you begin a new workout routine, your brain “learns” how to efficiently use various muscles during an exercise before your body can “tell” those muscles to respond to training by growing larger. When your body is more efficient at using specific muscles, your training plan can become more productive.

This means it would be wise to spend time perfecting these exercises to better serve you in later cycles of training. Because most people work on their larger muscle groups at the start of the week, it makes sense to use this arm workout at the end of the week.

This beginner workout focuses on recruiting the biceps and triceps with simple and effective exercises. This allows you to develop a mind-muscle connection (learning to feel the specific muscles working), reinforces strict form on fundamental movements, and targets the body parts to build a foundation of size and strength.

Close-Grip Bench Press

• How to Do it: Take a slightly inside shoulder-width grip. Lower the bar in-line with your mid-chest. Do not aim to keep your elbows tucked in, but allow them to sit naturally or at a 45-degree angle with your forearms perpendicular to the floor. Touch the bar to your chest at the bottom. Reach full lockout before lowering the bar.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 4 x 6-8 at 4-0-X-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving onto the next exercise.

Medium-Grip EZ-Bar Curl

• How to Do it: Keep your feet flat and grasp the bar with a palms-up grip. Keep your shoulder blades retracted as you brace your abdominal wall. Keep your upper arms perpendicular to the floor. Every rep should start with the muscle fully stretched at the bottom and end fully contracted at the top.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 4 x 6-8 at 4-0-X-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving back to the first exercise.

Cable Triceps Extension With Rope 

• How to Do it: Face a cable high-pulley with a rope attachment. Grab the rope with both hands and take one or two steps back. Maintain a strong, stable upright position. Set your upper arms in place, gently touching the sides of your body. Keep your elbows in position and do not let them move forward or back. As you start the movement by pressing your hands down, think of flexing your triceps to move the weight.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 3 x 10-12 at 3-0-1-1 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving to the next exercise.

Cable Hammer Curl With Rope 

• How to Do it: Face a cable low-pulley with a rope attachment at the bottom. Grab the rope with a thumbs-up grip and take one or two steps back. Maintain a strong, stable position. Your upper arms should be set in place with your elbows angling slightly outwards. Do not allow your arms to flail as you curl the weight upwards.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 3 x 10-12 at 3-0-1-1 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving back to the previous exercise.

Best Arm Workout With Dumbbells

Whether you can’t make it into the gym or you don’t have a gym membership, no problem. You can still build a respectable set of arms. All you need is a few sets of dumbbells and an adjustable bench.

The Dumbbell-Only Workout for Arm Size

Training with dumbbells can be a great way to spot any lack of strength or coordination from one arm to the other. Requiring the body to move two weights separately in a single coordinated exercise will reveal, for example, if one arm has been under-stimulated by standard exercises or if one side has been overcompensating for the other during specific movements.

It’s not uncommon for one arm to reach muscular failure before it’s opposite side, typically the non-dominant side (right-handed people tend to have weaker left sides and vice versa.). When this happens, end the set when one side reaches failure even if the opposite side is not fully fatigued. This allows the weaker side to eventually “catch up” in development and reduce the discrepancy.

Switching to dumbbells is also a great way to take the pressure off your joints if you get pain when performing the same exercises with a barbell. Dumbbells allow your wrists and elbows to adjust slightly during any given exercise, while a barbell requires your hands to stay in a static position during an exercise, which can sometimes contribute to joint strain.

Single-Arm Skull Crusher

• How to Do it: Lie on a flat bench as if performing a standard dumbbell bench press, with a dumbbell in only one hand. Keep your elbow pointed directly up to the ceiling. Lower the weight until your arm is fully stretched and the dumbbell is touching the top of your shoulder on the same side (right hand lowers to right shoulder, left to left).
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 3 x 8-10 at 3-1-1-0 tempo.
• Rest time: No rest between sides, 45 seconds before moving to the next exercise.

Dumbbell Spider Curl

• How to Do it: Set the bench to a high-incline angle. Lie with your chest on the top of the bench. Curl both weights while keeping your your hands supinated (palms facing up). During the movement, do not allow your elbows to shift back towards your body. Be sure to hold an isometric contraction at the top position.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 3 x 8-10 at 3-0-1-2 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving back to the previous exercise.

 Dumbbell French Press

• How to Do it: While standing, raise one dumbbell over your head with both hands. Your hands should be placed against the top weight plate with your palms facing the ceiling. Be sure to pause in the stretched position before raising the weight. Keep your elbows stationary during the movement. Raise and lower the weight by bending only at the elbows, not pressing with the shoulders.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 3 x 12-14 at 2-2-1-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 45 seconds before moving to the next exercise.

Zottman Curl

• How to Do it: Sit on a bench with an upright torso. Retract your shoulder blades and brace your abdominal wall. Your upper arms should remain perpendicular to the floor. Curl the dumbbell up with a supinated (palms up) grip. As you reach the top position and begin the descent, rotate both hands into a pronated (palms down) grip. Lower the dumbbells until the biceps are fully stretched in the bottom position. Rotate both hands to a supinated position before beginning the next rep.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 3 x 12-14 at 4-0-1-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 45 seconds before moving back to the previous exercise.

Best Muscle-Building Arm Workout

Dedicating an entire session to train the biceps and triceps is a classic and effective workout style. Even if you are already hitting your triceps and biceps in other sessions, add this workout 36-48 hours later. You’ll be fully recovered beforehand and can put 100% into this workout. This will make sure you are maximizing your efforts to add muscle, since training a body part twice per week can deliver better results than only training it once per week. (2)

This workout combines heavy loads, extended sets, and intense peak contractions all into one workout. You begin with a heavy lower-rep exercise, followed by exercises using the high-intensity one-and-a-quarter rep technique. The workout finishes with high-tension isolation exercises using high reps coupled with isometric holds in the fully shortened (peak contraction) position.

You will perform this workout in a superset format using a short rest period after the first exercise and a longer rest period after the second exercise in each pair.

Close-Grip Bench Press

• How to Do it: Using a standard flat bench, emphasize triceps recruitment by using a slightly closer grip on the bar. Keep your elbows positioned at a 45-degree angle from your body and don’t allow them to flare out. Note that there is no lockout or pause in any position. Maintain explosiveness coming out of the bottom of the movement.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 4 x 6 at 3-0-X-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before moving to the next exercise.

Medium-Grip EZ-Bar Curl 

• How to Do it: Grab an EZ-bar with a palms-up grip, setting your hands just outside your hips. Keep your elbows positioned into your rib cage throughout the set. Focus on not letting your elbows move forward or backwards as your lift. Keep your upper arms in place with no internal or external rotation of the shoulders. Maintaining strict form will keep all the tension placed on the biceps.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 4 x 6 at 3-0-X-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 90 seconds before returning to the previous exercise.

Decline Dumbbell Skull Crusher 

• How to Do it: Position a bench at a slight decline (roughly 20 degrees) and lie back holding two dumbbells overhead with your hands facing each other. Perform each set using the “one and a quarter rep” technique. Lower the weight fully, raise it one-quarter of the way up, return to a fully stretched position, and then return to full lockout. This is counted as one rep. As you lower the dumbbells, fully stretch the triceps by thinking about reaching your arm slightly behind your head.
• Sets, Reps,Tempo: 3 x 8-10 at 3-2-1-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 45 seconds rest before moving to the next exercise.

Incline Dumbbell Curl

• How to Do it: Position a bench at a high incline (roughly 45 to 65 degrees. Choose the higher angle if your shoulder mobility is restricted) and sit fully back with your hips, shoulders, and head on the bench. Begin with the weights hanging straight down. Perform each set using the “one and a quarter rep” technique. Curl both dumbbells all the way up, lower them to a full stretch, curl both weights one-quarter of the way up, and then down to a full stretch. This is counted as one rep. Focus on keeping your elbows in place and don’t allow them to swing forward.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 3 x 8-10 at 3-2-1-0 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before returning to the previous exercise.

Cross-Body Dual Cable Triceps Extension

• How to Do it: Position yourself in a cable station with two high pulleys. Grab the left handle with your right hand and the right handle with your left hand. Take a few steps back to add emphasis to the peak contraction. Bring your elbows in front of your body slightly to line up the cables with each arm. Focus on keeping your upper body stable while allowing your elbows to naturally sit in position. Do not keep your elbows tucked in close to your body. Press both hands down, and once you feel tension in your triceps, focus on maintaining it through the set. Be sure to finish each rep with a two-second isometric hold in the shortened (contracted) position.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 2 x 15 at 3-0-1-2 tempo.
• Rest time: 45 seconds before moving to the next exercise.

High-Pulley Dual Cable Biceps Curl

• How to Do it: Position yourself in front of a cable set at eye-level. Grab the handles and take a few steps back until your biceps are almost fully stretched out. Imagine your elbows are sitting firmly on a very high table and do not let them move during the set. Keep your palms supinated (palms facing up), and flex your biceps to bring your palms towards your face. Be sure to use a two-second isometric hold in the shortened (contracted) position.
• Sets, Reps, Tempo: 2 x 15 at 3-0-1-2 tempo.
• Rest time: 60 seconds before returning to the previous exercise.

The Arm Musculature

Building an impressive pair of arms requires training both the biceps and triceps. Neither body part can be neglected when the goal is overall size. In order to optimally train these muscles, it’s important to understand the details of how they perform and how they’re best recruited.

Biceps Brachii

When you flex your biceps in the mirror, you’re actually looking at more than just one muscle. The upper arm consists of two main muscles on the anterior (front) side. Both are responsible for achieving the desired look.

The biceps brachii is what most people consider “the biceps”. It is composed of two heads: a long head commonly referred to as the “outer” and a short head referred to as the “inner.” Both muscle heads originate at the scapulae and insert on the radius bone of the forearm.

Because the biceps muscle crosses both the elbow and the shoulder, it’s worked during the classic curling motion (elbow flexion) and it’s worked during front arm raise movements (shoulder flexion).

Brachialis

The brachialis originates at the humerus bone of the upper arm and inserts on the forearm’s ulna bone. Due to its location, the brachialis isn’t involved in shoulder movement; it only bends the elbow and moves the forearm. Its anatomy also makes it the stronger elbow flexor. (3)

Triceps Brachii

The triceps brachii is the main muscle on the posterior (back) side of the upper arm. The triceps muscle has three distinct heads, each with a slightly different shape and function — the long head, the medial head, and the lateral head.

The long head is located closest to the torso. It can be seen in poses such as the bodybuilder’s classic “front double biceps”. The lateral head, responsible for a triceps’ “horseshoe” shape, is on the outer side of the upper arm and it’s most visible in a “side triceps” pose. The medial head is a deeper muscle, located below the long head, and isn’t often noticeable on the surface.

The primary function of the triceps is elbow extension. All three heads cross the elbow joint and insert onto the ulna bone of the forearm. The origin of the lateral and medial heads are both on the humerus bone of the upper arm. The long head crosses the shoulder joint and originates on the scapula.

This different attachment point is one reason why different triceps heads can be influenced by shoulder and upper arm position during an exercise. (4)

Physical Preparation is Non-Negotiable

It does not matter what muscles you are planning to train — a warm-up is an absolute must. It not only prepares for what is to come physically, but mentally as well.

An effective warm-up will have your muscles firing and your nervous system ready to hit the ground running before you start your first working set. Arm workouts, in particular, require warming up the shoulder and elbow joints to train hard without pain.

The Biceps and Triceps Warm-Up Circuit

Perform these exercises back-to-back for three total rounds. Take no rest between each exercise, but take 30 to 45 seconds rest after each full round.

• Push-Up: Perform a basic push-up. Take two seconds to lower your body and two seconds to press up. Complete 10 reps.
• Bench Dip: Sit off of the side of a standard flat bench with your feet flat and knees bent. Place your hands on the bench to each side of your hips with your fingers pointed at your feet. Straighten your arms and then lower your hips below bench-level until you create a 90-degree angle with your arms before returning to the top. Complete 10 reps.
• Inverted Row: Use a Smith machine or any sturdy bar set at roughly waist-height. Grab the bar and suspend yourself from locked arms below it. Keep a straight body with only your heels touching the ground. Pull your chest to the bar. Perform five reps with a pronated (palms down) grip and then five reps with a supinated (palms up) grip. If necessary, keep your feet flat and bend your knees to improve leverage and complete the reps with less difficulty. This should be a warm-up, not an intense working set to muscular failure.

Bigger Arms Start Now

Wanting larger triceps and biceps isn’t just for bodybuilders. A workout dedicated to building a set of arms helps to put the finishing touch on any lifter whether their training priority is strength, athleticism, or all-out muscle. Stop short-changing your physique and start adding an arm day to your program.

References

1. Moritani T. (1993). Neuromuscular adaptations during the acquisition of muscle strength, power and motor tasks. Journal of biomechanics, 26 Suppl 1, 95–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9290(93)90082-p
2. Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2016). Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 46(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8
3. Plantz MA, Bordoni B. Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Brachialis Muscle. [Updated 2022 Feb 22]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551630/
4. Kholinne E, Zulkarnain RF, Sun YC, Lim S, Chun JM, Jeon IH. The different role of each head of the triceps brachii muscle in elbow extension. Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc. 2018;52(3):201-205. doi:10.1016/j.aott.2018.02.005

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