dumbells

[G4Z]

So, last time I posted in here I was losing some weight by doing press ups and sit ups, that worked ok but I went away on holiday and never got back into it. That was well over a year ago and since then I had some events in my life that lead me to get it sorted and I went from 14and a half stone to 11st 3. Once I had done that I decided it might be a good idea to build some muscle mass to help me look a bit better. never really been happy with my arms and read I could do a lot with dumbells so thats what I went for. Mainly been doing bicep curls chest presses, latteral raises, started with quite high reps and low weight (5kg per arm). i have been adding weight every week or so for 6 weeks and now I am up to 9kg per arm which is the maximum I can do with this set. My question is really about if its worth buying another set of weights or if I should just move weight from one of the dumbells to the other and do my arms one at a time. Is there any advantage to doing both at the same time or does it not matter?

Anybody got any recommendation on stuff I can do with dumbbells? Been using this page for ideas http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com...exercises.html

[jordan427]

Do bent over dumbell rows. They're fantastic. They're called 'single arm rows' on that website.
You really need to do more than 9kg with rows. Ideally you want to be aiming for 5 reps of 30kg+. 9kg isnt going to put on much muscle im afraid!

[G4Z]

ok great, tried that tonight.

Bumped it to 16kg on one, and the rows were quite comfortable and felt good. Thing is, I tried a few curls with it and wow, it was a real struggle. Should I just leave the curls out and swap them for rows?

[0iD]

Curls imo are overrated. The bulk of your upper arm muscle is the tricep & not the bicep. Having big bulgy biceps often leads to unbalanced arms as blokes become obsessed with the look. Try getting a Powerbar or similar for chin-ups/pull-ups etc for strong lean arms.

Bent over rows will help strengthen your core, back, shoulders, chest & arms.

[SammEl]

Originally Posted by 0iD

Curls imo are overrated. The bulk of your upper arm muscle is the tricep & not the bicep. Having big bulgy biceps often leads to unbalanced arms as blokes become obsessed with the look. Try getting a Powerbar or similar for chin-ups/pull-ups etc for strong lean arms.

Bent over rows will help strengthen your core, back, shoulders, chest & arms.

I disagree.

Neglecting any muscle will make you look out of shape, I neglected one muscle, traps, and now have no neck muscle. The muscle that brings out your whole upper area, clever ffs.

Work your whole arm, biceps and triceps. The bicep is HARDER to build than the bicep, and I can get my triceps big in no time, but biceps take months.

Triceps = Tricep dips - Find a bench or high solid surface
Biceps = Many different techniques, see what ones you like best!

[jordan427]

0id is correct, triceps make up the bulk of your upper arm and should be exercised. Biceps will grow without isolated exercises!

good luck

[0iD]

Originally Posted by SammEl

I disagree.

Neglecting any muscle will make you look out of shape, I neglected one muscle, traps, and now have no neck muscle. The muscle that brings out your whole upper area, clever ffs.

Work your whole arm, biceps and triceps. The bicep is HARDER to build than the bicep, and I can get my triceps big in no time, but biceps take months.

Triceps = Tricep dips - Find a bench or high solid surface
Biceps = Many different techniques, see what ones you like best!

I never suggested neglecting them, merely going for balance.

[ABCx86]

Originally Posted by SammEl

The bicep is HARDER to build than the bicep

Typo?

[SammEl]

Originally Posted by jordan427

0id is correct, triceps make up the bulk of your upper arm and should be exercised. Biceps will grow without isolated exercises!

good luck

So you forgot that triceps also get worked heavily when working the chest muscles?

ABC Yeh my bad lol - Suppose to be tricep at the end

[circuitmonkey]

with dumbells and a fitness ball you can do many, many useful exercises.

[Yorkieshaman]

In my opinion: yes, it's worth getting a second set of weights if it means you can work both arms at once (as opposed to having to do arms individually). Dumbbells can be had dirt cheap if you shop around - even cheaper if you pick some up second hand (especially because they're fairly hard to damage).

I know you're focused on your arms, but don't neglect your lower body. Try doing dumbbell squats - they don't take long and they work plenty of muscles. Apart from balance, as other posters have said, your lower body also has some of the larger muscle groups in it. Build these and you have more muscle mass overall. Which means your body will tend to produce more testosterone. Which makes it easier to grow muscle everywhere else.

Getting a fitball is a very, very good suggestion, in my opinion. Even a cheap one means you can do dumbbell presses and curls on it, or tricep dips and press-ups on it (good for working stabilising muscles, or when you get bored of dumbbell exercises and want a break for a day). Make sure you get a pump with it - cheap ones tend to lose air quite quickly.

If you're going for size you may want to look at lower reps (like 8 rather than 20) and heavier weights, as opposed to high reps/low weights. Also you may want to try eccentric lifting (lift/exert on a one count, lower/relax on a three count).

Your mileage may vary, etc.

[Zak33]

not everything is about muscle build though.

I have two tiny dumbells, tucked down the side of the sofa. They get used regularly. I go for massive reps and not much weight.

Bicep curls with multi reps are good for me. I'm not heavy build, but it gets the heart beating properly, and then stood in the crucifix position and varying the moves, without ever stopping for rest is my method. Sair gets the hump while tryiung to watch TV with me swearing at the pain after 20 minutes but hey... it's good.

I don't think it would be possible for me to build forearms and upper arms like 0iD or SeriousSam, both of whom are considerably thicker-set than me, but the effect on fitness has helped me from using them.

I guess it depends if you wannt look like Terminator or Bruce Lee
I'm a Bruce Lee man everytime... and I like noodles