Upper body resistance training - Part 1

Resistance trainers often divide the muscle groups into upper body and lower body muscles. With regard to upper body muscle groups, the muscle that extends from the back of the neck, out to the shoulders is known as the trapezius muscle. This muscle performs an important stabilizing role in keeping the shoulder steady during use of the upper limbs. A frequently used method of training these muscles is to hold a dumbbell in each hand and shrug the shoulders slowly up and down, while allowing the arms and hands to hang loosely by the sides.

The muscle around the shoulder is known as the deltoid muscle, and is divided into front, side, and rear aspects. Exercises that involve forward movement of the arm at the shoulder joint train the front deltoid. Conversely, exercises involving backward movement of the arm at the shoulder joint train the rear deltoid. Outward or lateral movements, for example holding a dumbbell in each hand and slowly elevating the barbells by swinging the arms outward, exercises the lateral deltoid muscles. In this particular exercise, the starting point would have the arms by the sides, with the hands towards the ground. The end point would have the arms horizontal, with the hands out to the right and left, forming a T-shape.

The upper arm muscles are the biceps on the front, and the triceps on the back of the upper arm. The biceps muscle is exercised by holding a dumbbell in the hand with a fully outstretched arm. The arm is slowly bent at the elbow, with the hand moving slowly upward toward the shoulder. Having fully bent the elbow, the reverse movement begins, known as the “eccentric phase” and discussed in some detail above. In this way the arm is slowly straightened again and returned to its original position. Training the triceps muscle involves the reverse. The basic principle is to start with a bent arm and straighten it. For example the fully bent elbow is pointed at the ceiling, and the hand holding a dumbbell is then slowly raised, thereby straightening the arm. Again this is followed by a smooth and gradual reverse movement, in which the hand carrying the dumbbell is slowly lowered back to its starting position.

The forearm muscles cam be exercised by resting the forearms on a padded surface, with the wrists and hands projecting freely over the edge of this surface. A barbell is held horizontally by both hands, and slowly raised and lowered. Thus the movement is occurring around the wrist joint, and it is the forearm muscles that are driving the process. In addition, the forearm muscles will be exercised by the upper arm (biceps and triceps) muscle training described above.

The chest muscles, otherwise referred to as the pectoral muscles, are most commonly exercised by means of the bench press. This involves lying on a padded bench, flat on your back, with a barbell held horizontally in both hands. For safety reasons it is best to carry out this exercise with the assistance of a friend or fellow exercise participant. This assistance is referred to as a “spotter” and his or her function is to stand behind the head end of the bench on which you are about to carry out the bench press exercise. He or she keeps his or her hands close to the barbell at all times, always ready to grab hold of the barbell in case you reach a level of muscle fatigue at which you are unable to keep pushing and / or supporting the barbell. The reason why this form of assistance is required is that, unlike many other resistance training exercises, this particular one involves the weight being held over a part of the body, in this case the chest. To compound the matter, the bench press tends to involve relatively heavy weights in comparison to exercises for smaller muscles groups. In view of the above it is advisable to have a spotter to assist you when engaging in the bench press, in readiness to take hold of the barbell in case of unexpected muscle fatigue.

It should also be noted that the bench press is a compound exercise, which is to say an exercise that works multiple muscles rather than a single muscle. In this case, the bench press exercises not only the pectoral muscles but also the triceps muscle and the anterior or front deltoid muscle.

Upper body resistance training - Part 2...


 

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