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Exercise: Arnold PressGrasp a dumbbell in each hand and place your upper arms at your sides. Bend at the elbow so you are holding the dumbbells upright, palms facing in (towards yourself). Begin to raise the dumbbells, at the same time rotating your palms out. When the dumbbells are at the level of the top of your head, your palms should be facing each other (this is known as “neutral”). At the top of the movement, your palms should be facing out and your wrists should be directly over your shoulders.
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Exercise: Barbell Bench or Chest PressBegin by lying on your back. Your knees should be over your ankles and the same height as your hips and shoulders. Grasp the bar wide enough so that your arms form a right angle when your elbows are at the same level as your shoulders. Thrust the bar upwards until just before locking out completely – this is important, your arms will be straight but do not lock them, as this places undue stress on the elbow joint. When you perform this exercise with dumbbells, your palms should face your feet.
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Exercise: Hammer CurlGrasp a dumbbell in each hand. Start with your arms hanging by your side, palms facing your body. This is known as the neutral position. Keep your chest up and out to align the spine. Your legs should be straight, but not locked. Flex your biceps and bend at the elbow, driving the weight up. Stop when you feel the tension start to leave your upper arm. Do not allow your elbows to drift forward (they should remain below or behind your shoulders throughout the movement). Do not straighten your arms at the bottom of the movement – keep them slightly bent so that tension will remain on your biceps.
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Exercise: Seated French PressGrasp a dumbbell with both hands and hold high over your head. You may lock the arms at the top, but by keeping them slightly bent, you will increase the time that the triceps is under tension. Make sure that your elbows remain either directly above or slightly behind your shoulders. Drop the weight behind your head without allowing your elbows to drift – your upper arms should remain perpendicular to the ground. Flex your triceps and drive the weight back up and over your head to complete the rep.
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Illustration: Dumbbell Bench PressPerforming a dumbbell bench press
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Exercise: Dumbbell FlyeGrasp a dumbbell in each hand. Lie on the bench on your back. Your knees should be over your ankles. Keep the chest up and out to align the spine. Start with your arms stretched straight above you, with a slight bend in your elbow. Your wrists should remain over your shoulders or just inside them – do not “touch” at the top (this will take tension off of the chest). Now, slowly spread your arms and maintain a slight bend in your elbow until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Your elbows should be slightly below your shoulders. From this position, contract your chest muscles and squeeze to bring your arms back up and complete the rep. Variations include incline and decline. For these, you will move the weight in a plane perpendicular to your body (so, for incline, your arms will be slightly in front of you, and for decline, your arms will be slightly over your head).
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Exercise: One-armed Dumbbell RowGrasp a dumbbell in one hand. Position yourself on a bench so that the same leg as the arm holding the dumbbell is on the bench. Your other leg will be slightly bent, and your opposite hand will grip the bench for support. Keep your chest up and out to align your spine, and look straight ahead. You should maintain lordosis throughout this exercise. Focusing on your back, pull the dumbbell up. Keep your elbows tight by your side. Raise the dumbbell as far as it will comfortably go, then return it to the start position. You should not let your arm “hang” at the end, but maintain a slight bend to keep constant tension on your back muscles.
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Control Drill: Lateral Rotator CuffLateral Rotator Cuff – grasp a light dumbbell (no more than 5 pounds) and place it in front of your body, so that your arm is at a right angle and the dumbbell is on the opposite side of your body, palm facing in. Now, rotate across your body until the palm is facing out and the dumbbell is away from your body. Rotate slowly but firmly, as far as you can comfortably go. Try to increase your range of motion each time. Try to keep the upper arm stationary – rotate it only – and the forearm parallel to the ground.
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Control Drill: External Rotator CuffExternal Rotator Cuff – grasp a light dumbbell as before. This time, bend the arm at a right angle away from the body, with palm facing in. Now, rotate the dumbbell upwards until the palm faces out. Try to keep your upper arm parallel to the ground. Perform this in a similar fashion to the previous control drill: slow, but firm.
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Control Drill: Scapular RetractionScapular Retractions – grasp light dumbbells (5 pounds) in both arms. Lie face down on a bench. Bring your arms up as far as they will go, in a rowing motion (bending at the shoulder and elbow). Now, keep this “upper” position, and focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together. Hold the squeeze for a full second then relax without lowering the arms. Repeat this ten or more times.
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