Biceps, Triceps, and Quadraceps

You can work out the same muscle groups on consecutive days if you want muscles that are actually useful, instead of just being swelled up meat.

I try to make my work out routine include doing things that extend to other parts of my life, and as such, ty to stick with using my body as resistance, as opposed to weights.

Push-ups, with alternate hand placements, can work a lot of the smaller muscle groups, works more core stuff than a bench press, and has the added benefit of being cardio if you do a lot of them. Get a friend to sit on your back if you need extra weight.

Pull-ups, in a variety of surfaces, are another great core work out, and strengthen hands, wrists, and shoulders. Also vary hand placement to work different muscle groups. I used to use a door frame, a bar, a hangboard, and a rope to do pull-ups on.

Instead of a military press, do headstands. Doing push ups upside down is totally bad ass.

For abs, I do situps with my feet locked under something, or hang from the pull up bar and sit up. Hanging from the pull up bar and lifting your legs also works.

I'd do dips if I had a dip bar.
 
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Roman said:
You can work out the same muscle groups on consecutive days if you want muscles that are actually useful, instead of just being swelled up meat.
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You can, but it's highly not advisable, for two reasons; One, you really need to let your muscles heal for 48 hours, and more importantly you're resting more for your joints than you are your muscles. Abs and calves are the only two exceptions. Abs because they are a non-jointed muscle and calves because you work them constantly anyway(for their density, and their size, they are the strongest muscle in the human body).

I try to make my work out routine include doing things that extend to other parts of my life, and as such, ty to stick with using my body as resistance, as opposed to weights.
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Since I don't go to the gym, that idea works best for me too.

Push-ups, with alternate hand placements, can work a lot of the smaller muscle groups, works more core stuff than a bench press, and has the added benefit of being cardio if you do a lot of them. Get a friend to sit on your back if you need extra weight.
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She said she wants to work on just her triceps, not her whole chest.

Pull-ups, in a variety of surfaces, are another great core work out, and strengthen hands, wrists, and shoulders. Also vary hand placement to work different muscle groups. I used to use a door frame, a bar, a hangboard, and a rope to do pull-ups on.
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She said she wants to work on her biceps, not her whole back.

Instead of a military press, do headstands. Doing push ups upside down is totally bad ass.
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Yes it is, but like I said, she never mentioned wanting to work on her shoulders, back or chest, just her bi's, tri's and quads. The exercises you listed are not bicep, tricep or quad specfic.


For abs, I do situps with my feet locked under something, or hang from the pull up bar and sit up. Hanging from the pull up bar and lifting your legs also works.
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Why? How many times do I have to tell all of you, situps are a wasted effort. Once you raise your shoulder blades up off the ground, you are no longer using just your abs to lift, you are also using your hip flexors. Plus, situps put a lot of strain on your neck. The U.S. Marine Corps wouldn't purposely move from doing sit ups to crunches if they didn't know what they were doing. Crunches are all you need if you want to isolate your abs.
 
mikenostic said:
You can, but it's highly not advisable, for two reasons; One, you really need to let your muscles heal for 48 hours, and more importantly you're resting more for your joints than you are your muscles. Abs and calves are the only two exceptions. Abs because they are a non-jointed muscle and calves because you work them constantly anyway(for their density, and their size, they are the strongest muscle in the human body).
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If you alternate the way you lift weights, it's not so bad on your joints. You don't get better at running 10 miles by sprinting once every 48 hours.

She said she wants to work on just her triceps, not her whole chest.
She said she wants to work on her biceps, not her whole back.
Yes it is, but like I said, she never mentioned wanting to work on her shoulders, back or chest, just her bi's, tri's and quads. The exercises you listed are not bicep, tricep or quad specfic.
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Meh.
I'm not really a fan of "isolate one muscle group, work it out." She admitted she'd rather be climbing, so I thought I'd offer some exercise that would both work the muscle groups she wanted, as well as keep her in climbing shape. Doing bicep curls won't do shit for climbing. But I guess if she wants some flab, then yeah, it's pretty obvious that you should hug metal a couple times every 48 hours.

I rarely climb, but I can do a 5.10 on real rock, just because of my regimen. Well, I could, before I hurt myself. :(
All the gym rats that go for the big look get winded on a flight of stairs; a rock wall is beyond them. And have you ever seen military guys in a rock gym? They're clumsy as shit. All upper body, no finesse. It's all huah bullshit and they burn out after two climbs. I don't know if it's the attitude or their methods of getting around their rope courses or whatever. It works for jugging, but how often do you get a fixed rope and gear? And is that even fun?

Why? How many times do I have to tell all of you, situps are a wasted effort. Once you raise your shoulder blades up off the ground, you are no longer using just your abs to lift, you are also using your hip flexors. Plus, situps put a lot of strain on your neck. The U.S. Marine Corps wouldn't purposely move from doing sit ups to crunches if they didn't know what they were doing. Crunches are all you need if you want to isolate your abs.
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I don't want to isolate my abs. That's why.
 
Roman, have you tried towel pull-ups? I just tried some... I can do about 3 before my grip gives out.

Though, my grip is pretty strong considering I play with Captain of Crush grippers.
 
Roman said:
I have not. I'll have to give those a go.
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There are a few different meanings by "towel pull-up." What I mean is this varitation:

towelpullup.jpg
 
takandjive said:
In other news: No real improvement I can see, but maybe on the job lifting is easier?
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What time frame are you referring to? Are you comparing yourself to last week? Last month? Yesterday?

Unfortunately, patience is key to success here. If you stick with it, you'll see results, but it will most certainly not happen immediately.
 
Absane said:
Strength improvements... visually, it takes months. There are no quick fixes.
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Actually, if you do it properly, you can start to see results (both stregth and visually) in just a few weeks.
As far as 'fixes' goes, there aren't any fixes period. Lifting weights and strenght training can easily be a perpetual journey/goal.
 
Initial strength improvements are enormous when you first start lifting as your brain and nerves get used to balancing and lifting the weight. Within the first couple months gains become more difficult and eventually become impossible unless you switch up your workout. My suggestion is to add some sort of row, preferably with free weights, and power clean exercises to your workout routine for biceps. If your aim is to make your muscles appear cut, than curls may be the way to go. For triceps I prefer the tricep extension and eye press (skull crusher). They really seem to pump up the triceps fast.
 
Roman said:
If you alternate the way you lift weights, it's not so bad on your joints. You don't get better at running 10 miles by sprinting once every 48 hours.
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But you still have to wait 48 hours.
Meaning if I do bench presses and chest say on Monday, I should wait until at least Wednesday to do any exercise that involves arm extension (including triceps, and shoulder presses).



Meh.
I'm not really a fan of "isolate one muscle group, work it out." She admitted she'd rather be climbing, so I thought I'd offer some exercise that would both work the muscle groups she wanted, as well as keep her in climbing shape. Doing bicep curls won't do shit for climbing. But I guess if she wants some flab, then yeah, it's pretty obvious that you should hug metal a couple times every 48 hours.

I rarely climb, but I can do a 5.10 on real rock, just because of my regimen. Well, I could, before I hurt myself. :(
All the gym rats that go for the big look get winded on a flight of stairs; a rock wall is beyond them. And have you ever seen military guys in a rock gym? They're clumsy as shit. All upper body, no finesse. It's all huah bullshit and they burn out after two climbs. I don't know if it's the attitude or their methods of getting around their rope courses or whatever. It works for jugging, but how often do you get a fixed rope and gear? And is that even fun?
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What military guys have you been hanging out with? We did way more cardio than we ever did weights.
And what is a 5.10? I have a pair of Sette 5.10 impact shoes (that are for mtn bike downhilling and freeriding) but I know the 5.10s started out as rock climing shoes. Your mention of 5.10 is probably why those shoes are called 5.10s.


I don't want to isolate my abs. That's why.
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But you do want to put unnecessary strain on your neck/upper back?
Dude, there is a REASON that the Armed Forces phased out the situp and implemented crunches. But what does their physical fitness program know, huh?
Dude I know you don't want to isolate your abs, BUT I'm telling you, sit ups do nothing for you that crunches won't. Like I said, the only other group you are working is your hip flexors, and you can work those in other exercises, ones that aren't as hard on you as sit ups.
So my advice on this is not so much trying to get you to isolate a group, moreso it is suggesting you not do a particular exercise (one that the miltary phased out for good reason) because it strains your spine/back.
Like I said, I'm 36 years old and I have a six pack, with NO gym time. I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about in this area.
 
The Breaker said:
prefer the tricep extension and eye press (skull crusher). They really seem to pump up the triceps fast.
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Try diamond push-ups, they will blow your tri's the fuck up quick.

It's a regular push up, but your hands are close together, fingers spread out, with your index fingers and thumbs touching, effectively forming a diamond. You can also call them close-grip push ups. Doing those, you're using almost all tricep for pushing up.
 
Mike, regarding 5.10 and climbing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(climbing) said:
YDS Class

The system consists of five classes indicating the technical difficulty of the hardest section:

* Class 1 is walking with a low chance of injury and a fall unlikely to be fatal.
* Classes 2 and 3 are steeper scrambling with increased exposure and a greater chance of severe injury, but falls are not always fatal.
* Class 4 can involve short steep sections where the use of a rope is recommended, and un-roped falls could be fatal.
* Class 5 is considered true rock climbing, predominantly on vertical or near vertical rock, and requires skill and a rope to proceed safely. Un-roped falls would result in severe injury or death.

In theory, Class 6 exists and is used to grade aid climbing (where progress is made by climbing directly on equipment placed in or on the rock and not the rock itself). However, the separate A (aid) rating system became popular instead. (See Aid climbing)

The original intention was that the classes would be subdivided decimally, so that a route graded 4.5 would be a scramble halfway between 4 and 5, and 5.9 would be the hardest rock climb. Increased standards and improved equipment meant that climbs graded 5.9 in the 1960s are now only of moderate difficulty. Rather than regrade all climbs each time standards improve, additional grades were added at the top – originally only 5.10, but it soon became apparent that an open-ended system was needed, and further grades of 5.11, 5.12, etc. were added.

While the top grade was 5.10, a large range of climbs in this grade were completed, and climbers realized a subdivision of the upper grades were required. Letter grades were added for climbs at 5.10 and above, by adding a letter "a" (easiest), "b", "c" or "d" (hardest).

As of 2008, the hardest climbing routes in the world are grade 5.15b [1][2]. Ratings on the hardest climbs tend to be tentative, until other climbers have had a chance to complete the routes and a consensus can be reached on the precise grade.

The system originally considered only the technical difficulty of the hardest move on a route. For example a route of mainly 5.7 moves but with one 5.12a move would be graded 5.12a. A climb that consisted of 5.11b moves all along its route, would be 5.11b. Modern application of climbing grades, especially on climbs at the upper end of the scale, also consider how sustained or strenuous a climb is, in addition to the difficulty of the single hardest move.
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Idle Mind said:
Mike, regarding 5.10 and climbing:
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Awesome. Thanks. I love rock climbing and would love to do a bit more of it, but it probably wouldn't ever be my bread and butter recreational activity like freeriding is.
 
There is bouldering too, which has a different rating system. The routes are low to the ground and don't require rope, but can be very difficult. The system goes from V0 to V15 (V16?). Like the more difficult climbing routes, a consensus needs to be reached after a few climbers have been able to complete the route.
 
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