To begin, stand up with a dumbbell held in one hand. Your feet should be about shoulder width apart from each other. Now fully extend the arm with the dumbbell over your head. Tip: The small finger of your hand should be facing the ceiling and the palm of your hand should be facing forward. The dumbbell should be above your head.
This will be your starting position.
Keeping your upper arm close to your head (elbows in) and perpendicular to the floor, lower the resistance in a semicircular motion behind your head until your forearm touch your bicep. Tip: The upper arm should remain stationary and only the forearm should move. Breathe in as you perform this step.
Go back to the starting position by using the triceps to raise the dumbbell. Breathe out as you perform this step.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Switch arms and repeat the exercise.
Variations: You can perform this exercise with a rope attached to a low pulley.
-Cable One Arm Tricep Extension- www.worldstarbodies.com
With your right hand, grasp a single handle attached to the high-cable pulley using a supinated (underhand; palms facing up) grip. You should be standing directly in front of the weight stack.
Now pull the handle down so that your upper arm and elbow are locked in to the side of your body. Your upper arm and forearm should form an acute angle (less than 90-degrees). You can keep the other arm by the waist and you can have one leg in front of you and the other one back for better balance. This will be your starting position.
As you contract the triceps, move the single handle attachment down to your side until your arm is straight. Breathe out as you perform this movement. Tip: Only the forearms should move. Your upper arms should remain stationary at all times.
Squeeze the triceps and hold for a second in this contracted position.
Slowly return the handle to the starting position.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions and then perform the same movement with the other arm.
Variations: You can use exercise bands to perform this exercise.
Sit down at the end of a flat bench with a dumbbell in both arms using a neutral grip (palms of the hand facing you).
Bend your knees slightly and bring your torso forward, by bending at the waist, while keeping the back straight until it is almost parallel to the floor. Make sure that you keep the head up.
The upper arms with the dumbbells should be close to the torso and aligned with it (lifted up until they are parallel to the floor while the forearms are pointing towards the floor as the hands hold the weights). Tip: There should be a 90-degree angle between the forearms and the upper arm. This is your starting position.
Keeping the upper arms stationary, use the triceps to lift the weight as you exhale until the forearms are parallel to the floor and the whole arm is extended. Like many other arm exercises, only the forearm moves.
After a second contraction at the top, slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position as you inhale.
Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Variations: This exercise can be executed also one arm at a time or alternating (like alternating dumbbell curls)
-One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl- www.worldstarbodies.com
Grab a dumbbell with the right arm and place the upper arm on top of the preacher bench or the incline bench. The dumbbell should be held at shoulder length. This will be your starting position.
As you breathe in, slowly lower the dumbbell until your upper arm is extended and the biceps is fully stretched.
As you exhale, use the biceps to curl the weight up until your biceps is fully contracted and the dumbbell is at shoulder height. Again, remember that to ensure full contraction you need to bring that small finger higher than the thumb.
Squeeze the biceps hard for a second at the contracted position and repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Switch arms and repeat the movement.
Variations: You can perform this exercise using a low pulley instead of a dumbbell. In this case you will need to position the bench in front of the pulley.
-Drag Curl- www.worldstarbodies.com
Grab a barbell with a supinated grip (palms facing forward) and get your elbows close to your torso and back. This will be your starting position.
As you exhale, curl the bar up while keeping the elbows to the back as you "Drag" the bar up by keeping it in contact with your torso. Tip: As you can see, you will not be keeping the elbows pinned to your sides, but instead you will be bringing them back. Also, do not lift your shoulders.
Slowly go back to the starting position as you keep the bar in contact with the torso at all times.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Variations: You can use dumbbells or the smith machine.
