Arms

I've talked a little bit about working out your core and a tad about weight lifting. Because I could spend hours writing about how to workout different muscles, I think I will start off with body parts. Judging from my title you've probably already guessed that I'm going to talk about arms.

I'll start at the shoulder and chest and work my way down to the hand. First off to work on your chest you could do bench press, which is probably the best for building chest muscles. If you go to a gym or lift weights, you probably already know what that is, and if you don't go to a gym and don't know what it is you probably can't do it. It's the same with a chest press. A chest press is a little easier and a little safer than the bench press, but that's usually only at gyms as well. There are many other chest workouts that require a gym, and I don't really feel like listing them all, partly because I don't know all the names of the workouts. Anyway, I think I will stick to workouts you can do at home. That will make this post much more simple.

One thing you could do to work your chest is flies. With flies you lay on the ground with you arms straight out on the ground while holding weights. Then bending slightly at the elbows, bring the weights in your hands together straight above you chest. Then put them back slowly so that you get a workout on the way down, and so you don't hurt your joints. Once your hands are almost to the ground, repeat.

Another workout is the push-up. The push-up is a great workout. Partly because you can do so many different kinds of push-ups. The push-up works your chest, shoulders, triceps, back, abs, Gluteus Maximus, and a little bicep. If you do the 'basic push-up', it works your chest the most. To start, place your hands under your shoulders (or a little closer to you torso), and get in the plank position. The plank position is the up-right position of a push-up. Your body should be as straight as possible. Then bring your body down until your arms are at a 90 degree position, then push-up and repeat. If you want learn some other push-ups, just comment on here.

Now for the shoulders. To it's a little harder to work your shoulders without a gym, but I'll give you a few workouts, starting with the shoulder press. With the shoulder press you grab two weights put them even with your head (while standing). Your arms should be to your sides, kind of making a W with your arms and head. Now that you have that position, push the weights until you arms are straight, and let them down to the W position. Repeat. When you're doing this, make sure your back is straight and your feet are slightly wider than shoulder width apart. You can strain, pull or pinch your back if your back is not straight.

You can also do handstand push-ups to work you shoulders. This is very hard and I would not recommend doing it without someone there who knows how to do it. If you live near me, I could help you. If you have no one around you that knows how to do this, don't do it.

Now, on to biceps. Biceps are one of my favorite muscles groups to workout. Probably because they make me feel stronger than I actually am. When I was younger I hated push-ups, but loved pull-ups and climbing trees, so I pretty much only did those. Because of that, my biceps are strong compared to my chest and other muscle groups (besides my triceps). The easiest way to work your bicep is to curl weights. Curling is quite simple. First, grab a weight (while standing) and relax you arm so your arm is straight. Then curl your arm until the weight just about reaches your shoulder. Then let it down slowly so you don't snap your elbow. Repeat.

Now for my favorite. The pull-up. The pull workout pretty much every part of you body besides your legs. You can do a variation of a pull which works you legs though. But the main muscle it works is your bicep. To do a pull-up just grab a pull-up bar (a strong tree branch or door frame would work), with your palms facing away from your body and hands about shoulder width apart. Starting with you arms straight, pull yourself up. You should try and bring your nose or chin over the bar. Don't jolt your body up, that can hurt you and it doesn't work your biceps that much. Once you get up there, let you self down slowly until your arms are straight (don't touch the ground), and repeat.

Some people mix up a pull-up with a chin-up. A chin-up is the same thing except your palms are facing towards you. This is easier, but can hurt you joints if you do alot.

 Now for the triceps. There are many workouts you can do for these, just like the chest and biceps. I chose only my favorite, which happens to be a pretty basic one. To start, find something solid that you can grip about a foot off the ground. Higher then that can be better, but higher also can make your elbows feel weird, which is probably bad. Once you find that sit with your back to the solid object you found, about 3-6inches away, legs should be straight so you can't cheat and use those. Then place your hands on the object and lift your self up until your arms are straight. After that, 'dip' down until your bum is just off the ground, then push yourself back up. Repeat. You'll probably start shaking, and will feel the burn quickly. Try and go on as long as you can. Triceps can handle alot. I'm warning you though, doing a ton of these will leave you sore for a few days.

Last but not least, the forearm/wrist/hand area. One thing you can do that is really simple, but looks dumb. Start off with your your fingers being held back by your thumb, then flick them all out. Repeat. This is really easy, so do it for awhile.

Now for a better workout. The forearm roller. To do this you need a forearm roller. They cost a bit, so I made my own. To make your own find a smooth tree or tree branch you don't mind destroying. You should barely be able to fit your hand around it. Or so you can barely not fit your hand around it. When you find the right width, cut off about 2 feet of it. Then peel off the bark. You can then cut a small grove at the mid point of the piece of wood. Once you have that find a strong string and cut a little over 3 feet of it off, and tie it tight in/on the grove. I stapled it for extra strength. Once you have that tie a 3-8 pound weight to the other end of the string. Now that you have it, hold your hands close together on the piece of wood. Keeping your arms straight as possible, roll it up... and then roll it down (slowly), make sure the weigh doesn't touch the ground. Once you rolled it down, roll it back up the other way. Repeat until you can't.

Lastly, the the grip handle bar. This this is super simple. Just squeeze it together, and release. Repeat. Once you see on, it makes complete sense.

Now to conclude this post I must remind you that there are many other workouts for your arms, and if you're serious about working out, then you should probably refer to a more knowledgeable person. Also, right after your workout, stretch, and with in a half hour of your workout eat some protein. This will help you build muscle and make you less sore. If you still end up sore, bananas and apples are going to be your friends. They have a lot potassium. Another tip to help you remain non-sore is making sure you breathe while working out. Your body needs that oxygen.