Hometown: Lake Forest, IL
What to Expect During Molly’s Classes: Lots of pop music, total burnout and some lame jokes.
Favorite Quote: Keep it simple, keep it fun, keep it you!
Outside ENRGi: Being active outside (I love walking and biking…even in the cold Chicago winters) exploring new places, and testing out new beers and wine.
Guilty Pleasure: Cake pops…I haven’t met one I can say no to.
To make your arms strong, you can go to the gym or use a barbell at home. And you can perform only 3 simple exercises at the same time. Each movement is a movement that evenly loads several muscle groups at once. The complex of these 3 exercises allows you to develop your biceps, triceps, forearms, shoulders, chest and back in harmony.
In addition, when you use a barbell, you do not have the opportunity to relax, as sometimes happens with dumbbells, says professional trainer Mia Nikolajev.
Two-handed barbell exercises are more balanced than dumbbell exercises and allow you to lift more weight with each repetition. “The more weight you put on, the more your muscles need to work,” she says. – And the harder they work, the better the result will be.”
Are you ready to make your hands beautiful and strong?
1. Bench press
Bench press
The bench press is one of the most popular chest exercises with a barbell and one of the most important.
“The bench press is great for developing upper-body strength, especially in the pectoral muscles, anterior deltas, and triceps,” says Kristian Flores, a professional trainer based in New York.
If you want to sometimes change the difficulty of the bench press, try doing the exercise on a power bench with different degrees of inclination. This will increase the load on the upper and lower chest and shoulder muscle groups, says Mia Nikolajev.
Training level: Advanced
Goal: Power development
Load: arm and chest muscles
Lie face up on a flat bench. Keep the barbell slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
Press your feet to the ground and your hips to the bench as you lift the barbell off the bar.
Slowly lower the bar to your chest, bending your arms at the elbows.
Once the barbell reaches chest height and your elbows drop slightly below the bench, press your heels to the ground and use your chest and arms to lift the barbell.
Return the barbell to its original position at arm’s length, but do not fully straighten your elbows.
The Council
Once you understand how much you can lift, ask someone to help you to increase the load. A constant increase in the load is necessary for an effective increase in strength, ” says Kristian Flores. Without an assistant, the risk of the weight accidentally being too heavy increases.
2. Shoulder press of the barbell
Barbell Shoulder Press
The shoulder barbell press, also called the military press, not only works wonders in the development of the deltoids and triceps, but also strengthens the upper back, says Mia Nikolajev.
For best results, she recommends using a barbell that is light enough that you can confidently perform 12 to 16 reps per set. (Do not arch your body during the exercise and do not throw weight on your lower back.)
Training level: Advanced
Goal: Power development
Load: arm and shoulder muscles
Stand up straight with your feet hip-width apart. Hands on the neck-slightly wider than shoulder width.
Tighten your glutes and abs.
Stay on your feet confidently, try not to bend your knees while the barbell is moving up.
Pause when the bar is in the upper position.
Gently lower the barbell onto your chest.
The Council
If you experience shoulder pain when lifting a barbell, instead of gritting your teeth and enduring it, Mia Nikolajev recommends taking the extra weight off the bar. Weight loss helps you perform the exercise correctly and reduces the load on important auxiliary muscles.
3. Lifting the rod
Lifting the bar
Professional athletes have a saying that says: “For each pull of the barbell, do 2 lifts.” This means that for 1 repetition of the snatch exercise (for example, bench press, shoulder press), you need to do 2 lifts. According to Flores and Nikolajev, this is good advice when you are developing your arm strength using a barbell.
“Most of the movements that we do in everyday life, load the muscles of the front part of our body,” says Nikolajev. As a result, these muscles often become stronger than the muscles in the back of the body, which can lead to shoulder injuries, poor posture, and back pain.
“Barbell lifting exercises strengthen the muscles in the back of the body, such as the upper back, shoulder joints, and forearms, providing balance to the main muscles in the front of the body,” says Flores. The classic barbell lift exercise strengthens all the muscles in your back, as well as your triceps, biceps and forearms, he says.
Training level: Advanced
Goal: Power development
Load: back and abdominal muscles
Hold the barbell at arm’s length (palms facing away from your face). Arms shoulder-width apart, legs hip-width apart.
Tighten your abs to stabilize your spine.
Bend your knees slightly and bend down. The crossbar should be close to the hips.
Do not relax your back, squeeze your shoulder blades together. Raise your elbows behind your back, pulling the barbell up to your lower chest.
Pause in the upper position, then return the bar to its original position.