We learn from our mistakes and that is something that you have to remember when weight training. If you’re new to this lifestyle, then you must realize that it is certainly not easy but actually gets better with time. For those who have been doing it for a while, think back to those first few months working out and enjoy how far you have come since then.
Even though mistakes are made training every muscle group, there happens to be a great many when it comes to biceps and triceps. And although these may seem like trivial ones, they make a huge difference as far as making gains and preventing injury.
Here are some of the more common exercises for both body parts in arms training:
BICEPS
*Standing Barbell Curls – A simple and staple movement for biceps but one that you can frequently see done with terrible form. Swinging the weight up, not controlling it on the way down and shortening the range of motion are usually fixed once the weight is dropped down a bit. People get hung up on ‘power reps’ and forget to do the basics.
*Alternate Dumbbell Curls (standing or seated) – Hand position is key here and people may let that small but important detail slip their mind. Forgetting to twist your wrist inward at the bottom of each rep puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on the elbow joint and also works only one part of the biceps. A good tip is to point your pinky towards your ear at the top of the rep and then towards the back of the room at the bottom.
TRICEPS
SKULL CRUSHERS – You can perform this exercise with an EZ-curl or straight bar but it actually goes smoother with the former and puts your wrists in a more comfortable position to complete the set. A common error you see with these is due to hand position on the bar.
When your grip is too wide or on the cambered part of the bar where your pinkies will point upward, then you will flare your elbows out at the bottom of each rep. You want to use a narrow-to-medium grip and have your pinkies facing down, which will keep your elbows tighter and tucked in better.
TRICEPS PUSHDOWNS – The part of the rep that most people mess up on is at the top, meaning that they allow their arms to come up too high and their elbows go passed the 90-degree angle. And then a close second is not locking out at the bottom of the rep.
If you go passed the 90-degree mark, your biceps are engaged and they take the tension off your triceps – even though this is a ‘push’ exercise. (Try it the next time you’re doing these and you’ll feel your bis tightening to keep the bar from going all the way up.)
And when you fail to lock out, you’re actually giving your triceps an easy time and not hitting them as hard as you can. They become fully engaged if you use a complete range of motion, so don’t forget to push them at the most vital part of the rep when they are already pre-exhausted.