The Body Sculpting Bible for Women (84 page)

TECHNIQUE AND FORM

Once you are in the proper body alignment with the dumbbells overhead, slowly lower the dumbbells down toward your shoulders. While doing this, your elbows will remain pointing directly at the ceiling; and your entire arm from the elbows to the shoulders will be frozen at all times. These steps are necessary for proper triceps stimulation during this exercise. Remember to consciously focus all of your attention on proper form and stimulation of the triceps muscles.

As you lower the dumbbells, stop just before the dumbbells reach your shoulders and begin to slowly and smoothly extend your arms from the elbows to the hands back up to the starting position of the exercise. Remember to keep your upper arm frozen in place.

As you reach the top of the exercise, contract the triceps muscles as hard as you possibly can for complete muscle stimulation. Make sure that you avoid excessively locking the elbow joint. Once you reach the position of full elbow extension, do not thrust the elbow joint into a locked position. Instead, contract the triceps muscles as hard as you possibly can. Practice using light weights with this technique as practice will make for perfect execution of the exercise and better results. Also, make sure that there is a smooth transition when switching from lowering the dumbbells to raising the dumbbells. Do not rest between lowering and raising the dumbbells.

FAQ:

I feel the same pain and pressure as I did with the overhead dumbbell extension
.

ANSWER:

Your elbows are under the same pressure here. However, you can take a bit of the shearing force off of the elbow joints by making sure to keep your arms angled back throughout the exercise. If you still feel discomfort, switch this exercise with another.

Lying E-Z Bar Extension

This triceps exercise is one that will fully stimulate all three muscles of the triceps. It is performed with an E-Z Bar curl bar, a curved looking bar usually found in the free weight section of your gym or health club. You might want to start with this exercise, considering it can help build your strength and coordination, preparing you for the Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions. If you don’t have access to this type of bar, just stick with the lying dumbbell triceps extension, as these exercises are very similar.

PROPER ALIGNMENT

Set up a cambered bar (E-Z curl bar) with some light weight on each side or get one that is already pre-weighted. You can rest the curl bar on your thighs and lay back, set it in place so that it is at the base of your head while you lie down, or simply have someone hand it to you when you are already lying down.

Before lifting the bar or having it handed to you, lay back on the bench and place your feet flat onto the floor, pointing straight ahead.

As you are lying down, lift the bar into place by pressing it up using your chest muscles (like the chest press). Hold it up above your head and stay there. You will begin the exercise in this position to avoid stressing the elbow joint. If you start at the bottom position of this exercise, you can easily create too much pressure on the elbow joint capsule, risking long-term injury. Once you begin the movement from the top, the pressure in the elbow joints will be reduced as you reach the bottom position.

Remember, your inner elbows must always face each other during the exercise.

Make sure that your whole arm is in a direct line with your front shoulder (anterior deltoid).

This exercise will be done slightly differently from the lying two-dumbbell extension. Take a grip on the bar and position your hands about 8 to 10 inches apart; bring the E-Z bar overhead and position your elbows so that they are pointing directly to the ceiling above you but now, you will point your elbows slightly behind you and toward the ceiling on an angle. Doing this with the E-Z curl bar in your hands will automatically distribute the resistance from resting on the elbow joints to the triceps muscles. We don’t recommend that you do this with the lying dumbbell extension because the two movements will stimulate different areas of the triceps muscles.