If you are interested in gaining strength, both in your muscles and in your core, you need to begin training them immediately. Dumbell exercises are popular with recreational gym users right through to elite athletes.
They can be used exclusively to form a wide variety of strength training programs, or they can be used to compliment a program that uses resistance machines, barbells, or resistance bands for example. Dumbells are often favored over weights machines and when performed correctly they are equally as safe.
Dumbell exercises incorporate stabilizing muscles helping to develop a balanced posture and perhaps reducing the risk of over-use injuries. They also allow you to work through a potentially greater range of movement than resistance machines.
These exercises are extremely safe when performed correctly. The following guidelines are not only for your safety, they are important to maintain the quality of the workout helping you achieve the results you set out to.
Perform five to ten minutes of light aerobic exercise followed by stretching exercises to all major muscle groups. Correct form is essential in order to avoid injury and get the most from these dumbbell exercises.
Start with a low weight and only increase the resistance is proper technique can be maintained. Ideally you should have someone 'spot' each of the exercises you perform.
Spotting involves carefully watching the lifts and being ready to intervene should the lifter require help. This is particularly important when sets are completed to exhaustion or failure.
It may be tempting to drop or throw the hand weights to the floor once an exercise has been completed rather than lowering under control. However, whilst you are holding the weights your muscles are under considerable tension and suddenly dropping them will release this tension rapidly (like firing an elastic band) increasing the risk of muscle tears.
Some exercises permit relatively heavy weights to be used that are awkward to lower safely. In this, a case spotter should assist the lifter.
The exercises you select, the amount of weight you use and the number of sets and repetitions you complete depends on your training outcome. These can be used to develop maximal strength, strength endurance, explosive power or increased muscle mass.
Lying flat on a bench, hold the weights directly above your chest, arms extended and palms facing towards your feet. Lower the weights to your chest under control.
Press the dumbells back up to the starting position and repeat. Avoid locking your elbows.
This keeps the tension in your pectoral muscles and prevents joint damage. A variation of the flat press, this exercise works the upper pectorals, triceps, and the anterior deltoid.
Adjust the bench to an incline of 30 to 45 degrees. Perform a dumbell press as described above.
Lying flat on a bench, hold the weights directly above your chest. Palms facing towards each other.
Bend your elbows slightly and maintain this flexion for the rest of the exercise. Open your arms in an arc lowering the weights.
Your elbows should remain 'locked' in a slightly bent position. Imagine opening your arms to give someone a hug and you won't go far wrong!
When your upper arms are parallel to the floor, use the same movement to return the weights to the starting position and repeat. Next, adjust the bench to an incline of 30 to 45 degrees.
Perform the exercise described above. Sit upright on the end of the bench with the weights extended directly above your head.
Make sure your back is not rounded. Adjust the bench so it forms an upright chair to support your back if necessary.
Lower the weights slowly and under control to your shoulders. When your arms are bent to 90 degrees, press the dumbells back up without locking your elbows and repeat.
Most strength training exercises are superior to the machine equivalent. This one is no exception.
Out of all the hand weight exercises described this is also the one that is invariably performed badly. If you keep good form you cannot lift a heavy weight.
Stand upright, knees slightly bent and shoulder width apart, holding the weights at your sides. Bend your elbows slightly and raise them out to the side.
Keep your elbows slightly bent as you do this. When your arms are parallel to the floor, slowly lower the weights back down and repeat.
If you catch yourself arching your back, dipping your knees or bringing your shoulders back use a lighter weight. With these tips, you can be sure that you will begin to see results in your muscles in no time.
Author Resource:-
Jack R. Landry has been writing about the exercise and health industry for years. He recommends using strength equipment to stay healthy and fit.
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