It’s all about the details when maximizing the effectiveness of your arm exercises. Because over the long run, small deviations in form can add up and really retard your progress.
Most women aren’t even aware that they’re making said errors. It’s hard enough to show up and exercise, let alone perfect every exercise your doing.
The good news is that you don’t have to perfect every single movement to the point that it’s flawless. All you have to do is watch out for the big deviations.
So here is the important list of what NOT to do when doing arm exercises for women:
1. Heave hoeing the weight up. This is most common with barbell curls and all its variations. The problem: it places a lot of stress on your lower back and takes stress off of your biceps. Not a good thing if you want fast arm toning.
2. Letting the shoulders come up. Most common with press downs for the triceps, although some women also do this when performing curls. What’s the big deal? When you elevate the shoulders, you work your trapezius (neck) muscles, not your arm muscles. And do you really want a big neck?
3. Letting the elbows move around. This is probably the most rampant error of them all. Whether you’re doing biceps curls or triceps extensions, your elbows should always stay locked in place. Once your elbows start moving around, stress is placed on your shoulders and/or back and away from your arms.
4. Not placing weight on the heels. You should use the heels of your feet for support. This will keep you much more stable and will allow you to lift much more weight. You’re more likely to keep lower back injuries at bay by using this technique.
Avoiding the above deviations will make your arm exercises that much more effective and will also prevent injury. And although using heavier weights is critical for the fastest arm toning, never go heavy if it requires a sacrifice in form or technique. Always stay safe and lift with the best technique possible.
Regarded writer, Katherine Crawford M.S., an exercise physiologist and recent flabby arms refugee, advises women on how to avoid an expensive and invasive arm lift surgery. Discover how to get sexy and toned arms by visiting her personal blog about eliminating arm flab as soon as possible!