Alternating arm curls
Muscles involved: Bottom, middle and top of biceps, top of forearm.
Starting position: Fasten the ends of an elastic tube or several tubes to two handles and clasp them with your hands with an underhand grip. Stand with both feet on the elastic tubes. Feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly to the sides. Bend your elbows slightly until the elastic tubes are slightly stretched. The gaze is directed straight ahead. Tighten your lower back muscles and maintain the natural curve of your spine for the rest of the set.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, bending one arm at the elbow joint, pull the handle of the expander to the corresponding shoulder. Having reached the top point of the amplitude of movement, without delay, while inhaling, smoothly lower it back. Having straightened one arm, begin to bend the other, maintaining the tension of the elastic tubes in the lowered arm.
Exercise Tips: Keep your back straight while performing the exercise. The elbows are pressed tightly to the body at all times, all movements are made only in the elbow joints.
Choose a load at which you can reach the handles of the expander to shoulder level.
If you cannot correctly adjust the working length of the expander, the tubes are too long for you, then perform biceps exercises with the expander fixed to the wall (door).
Recommended initial load: men - black + red or blue + red tubes, women - red or red + yellow tube.
One arm curl
Muscles worked: Middle and lower biceps
Starting position: Make one turn of the elastic tube or several tubes around the foot and fasten the ends of the tube to one handle. Grasp the handle of the expander with one hand with an underhand grip, and place the hand of the other hand under the lower part of the triceps of the working arm.
Bend your arm slightly at the elbow until the elastic tubes are slightly stretched. Take a small step forward with your involved leg.
Tighten your lower back muscles and maintain the natural curve of your spine for the rest of the set. The gaze is directed straight ahead.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, bending your arm at the elbow joint, pull the handle of the expander towards your shoulder. When you reach the top point, pause and tighten your biceps even more. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position, while maintaining the tension of the elastic tubes.
Exercise Tips: Keep your back straight while performing the exercise.
The bottom of the triceps of the working arm should be pressed firmly against the hand of the other arm throughout the entire exercise.
Choose a load at which you can reach the handle of the expander to shoulder level.
Recommended initial load: men - blue or red tube, women - green tube.
Arm Curl
Muscles involved: Bottom, middle and top of biceps, top of forearm.
Starting position: Fasten the ends of an elastic tube or several tubes to two handles and clasp them with your hands with an underhand grip. Stand with both feet on the elastic tubes. Feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly to the sides. Bend your elbows until the elastic tubes are slightly stretched.
Tighten your lower back muscles and maintain the natural curve of your spine for the rest of the set. The gaze is directed straight ahead.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, bending your elbows, smoothly pull the handles of the expander to the level of your upper chest. While lifting the handles, do not move your elbows, keep them at the sides of your body and do not bend your wrists. As soon as your hands are level with the top of your chest, pause and tighten your biceps even more. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position, while maintaining the tension of the elastic tubes.
Exercise Tips: Keep your back straight while performing the exercise. The elbows are pressed to the body all the time, all movements are made only in the elbow joints.
Choose a load at which you can reach the handles of the expander to shoulder level.
If you cannot correctly adjust the working length of the expander, the tubes are too long for you, then perform biceps exercises with the expander fixed to the wall (door).
Recommended initial load: men - black + red or blue + red tubes, women - red or red + yellow tube.
Overhand grip curl
Muscles involved: Brachialis, biceps, upper forearm.
Starting position: Attach the ends of an elastic tube or several tubes to two handles and wrap your hands around them with an overhand grip. Stand with both feet on the elastic tubes. Feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed slightly to the sides. Bend your elbows until the elastic tubes are slightly stretched.
Tighten your lower back muscles and maintain the natural curve of your spine for the rest of the set. The gaze is directed straight ahead.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, bending your elbows, smoothly pull the handles of the expander to the level of your upper chest. As soon as your hands are level with the top of your chest, pause and tighten your muscles even more. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position, while maintaining the tension of the elastic tubes.
Exercise Tips: Use lighter resistance than underhand grip biceps exercises. This is explained by the fact that the main load in our exercise falls not on the biceps, but on the brachialis muscle, which is much smaller and weaker than the biceps.
Movement occurs only at the elbow joint. All other parts of the body, including the upper arm from the elbow to the shoulder, should remain motionless for the rest of the set.
Always keep your elbows at the sides of your body. As soon as you begin to push your elbows forward, the front deltoids immediately come into play, which “take away” part of the load from the muscles of the forearm and the load on the shoulder muscle
Always keep your hands in line with your forearms.
Recommended initial load: men - black or blue tube, women - red or green tube.
Exercises with adjustable resistance bands
(can be purchased here)
GD Grip Ultra expander (left) and Hammar Vice Gripper (right)
The main difference between the Hammar Vice Gripper adjustable wrist expander and the GD Grip Ultra is that the load in the Hammar Vice Gripper is created by decompressing the spring, while in the GD Grip Ultra it is created by compression. Hammar's springs have hooks at the ends, which allows you to easily and, most importantly, quickly adjust the stiffness. One of the springs can be removed without much difficulty and a gripper with one spring can be used. In fact, this is the simplest adjustable wrist expander. It has an A4 sheet size, costs slightly more than a regular torsion spring, and at the same time has an almost unlimited range of stiffness. This model is not as popular as conventional grippers due to the fact that it is still quite large, unlike the GD Grip Ultra, but the exercises will be more effective due to the smooth change in loads. The dimensions and weight of the GD are comparable to those of conventional torsion bars, and therefore exercises with the GD Grip Ultra can be done anywhere and anytime. Another advantage is the ability to adjust the amplitude.
As a bonus to your training, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the TRX loops for training with your own weight. You can also read the articles on how to learn how to do pull-ups on a horizontal bar, functional training in the article section. And also in product categories: rubber shock absorber for fitness, elastic band for fitness, wrestling rubber harness, Sotsky Bison 1M exercise machine, TPX loops - exercise machine, neck exercise machine.
Arm Curl
Muscles worked: Middle, top and bottom of biceps.
Starting position: Secure the expander with a clamp to the wall in a position at chest level and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to the two handles.
Stand facing the wall and clasp the handles of the expander with an underhand grip. Straighten your arms forward and move away from the wall to a distance of light tension on the elastic tubes. To give your body a more stable position, take a small step with one foot. Keep your back straight and your abs engaged for the rest of the set.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, tighten your biceps and pull the handles of the expander towards your head. Try to keep your upper arms still and parallel to the floor. At the extreme point of the amplitude, pause and tighten your biceps even more. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise Tips: Perform the movement through the full range of motion.
The legs, torso and upper arms should remain motionless until the very end of the set.
When the arms are straightened and the elbows are at shoulder level, then when bending the arms, the load is focused on the middle of the long head of the biceps, due to the development of which the biceps acquires a convex shape (biceps peak).
Don't relax your hands, keep them tight, and don't let your wrists flare as you pull the handles toward your head.
It is allowed to bend your wrists slightly as you approach the top point. This will put more stress on your forearms and help your biceps contract more.
Recommended initial load: men - black or blue tube, women - red or red + yellow tube.
Exercise with an expander to hold a belt
Keep the load vertical
This exercise involves lifting and holding a weight attached to a belt between the handles. When performing an exercise, the purpose of which is to develop grip strength and learn to control the compression of the expander, the handles are parallel to the ground. The belt material should be rigid but thin. A metal ruler is ideal for this purpose. Typically, loads weighing from several tens of grams to several kilograms are used to perform the exercise. Weights weighing more than four and a half kilograms should not be used, as this will place too much stress on the wrist. It is much more effective to use small loads with a tighter machine. Most trainees can lift a resistance band load one level heavier than what they normally lift.
Arm Curl
Muscles worked: Middle and lower biceps.
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall (door) in the lower position and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to the two handles.
Stand with your back to the wall and clasp the handles of the expander with an underhand grip. Pull your arms straight back and move away from the wall to a distance of light tension on the elastic tubes. To give your body a more stable position, take a small step forward with one leg.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, tighten your biceps and, bending your elbows, smoothly pull the handles of the expander forward. Try to always keep your elbows still and close to the sides of your torso. Once your forearms are parallel to the floor, pause. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise tips : For additional resistance, take another small step forward in the starting position and move your arms back even further.
Recommended initial load: men - black + red or blue + red tubes, women - red or red + yellow tube
Arm Curl
Muscles involved: Middle, top and bottom of biceps, top of forearm.
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall in the lower position and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to the two handles.
Stand facing the wall and clasp the handles of the expander with an underhand grip. Move away from the wall to a distance of light tension of the elastic tubes. To give your body a more stable position, take a small step towards the wall with one foot. Straighten your arms and lean back slightly. Keep your back straight and your abs engaged for the rest of the set.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, tighten your biceps and pull the handles of the expander to the top of your chest. Try to keep your elbows always stationary and near the sides of your torso or slightly in front. At the top, pause and tighten your biceps even more. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise Tips : Perform the movement through the full range of motion. At the top point, your elbows go slightly forward; at the bottom point, fully straighten your arms, while maintaining the tension of the elastic tubes.
Use a workload that allows you to perform the exercise without bending your torso back and forth.
Recommended initial load: men - black + red or blue + red tubes, women - red or red + yellow tube.
Exercises with torsion expanders
(can be purchased here)
Expander with high rigidity and aluminum handles
This is the most popular type of expanders. They are a torsion spring mounted on plastic, aluminum, steel or even copper handles. It closes by bringing the handles together until they touch each other, in which case it is necessary to overcome the resistance of the spring. The closer the handles are brought together, the greater the force, so it is important to completely close the gripper before the handles touch each other.
Torsion spring and low resistance models can be purchased at almost any sporting goods store. With the start of serious training, most athletes switch to professional expanders of increased rigidity. They are produced by several companies; the best proven ones are Captains of Crush, which are produced by Ironmind. The level of resistance is determined by the diameter of the spring and the distance between the handles. They usually only have one firmness level, but they are easy to carry.
Arm curl from a lying position
Muscles involved: Biceps.
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall in the lower position and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to the two handles.
Lie on the floor with your feet facing the wall and clasp the handles of the expander with your hands with an underhand grip. Straighten your arms along your body and move away from the wall to a distance of light tension on the elastic tubes.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, bending your arms at the elbow joints, pull the handles of the expander towards your shoulders. Pause and tighten your biceps even more. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise Tips: Make sure to keep your upper arms flat on the floor at all times throughout the set.
When using a heavy load, bend your knees and place your feet firmly on the floor.
Do not rotate your wrists during the entire movement.
Recommended initial load: men - black or blue + green tubes, women - blue or red + yellow tubes
Rules for choosing a suitable expander
The choice of expander depends on the time during which exercises are performed with this simulator.
So:
- for beginners - expanders with minimal resistance (yellow) are optimal;
- for the next level - green expanders;
- for advanced level - red;
- for professionals - blue.
In expanders with a spring, the load is determined by the number, length and thickness of the springs. This type of expanders is considered more reliable, since tape and tubular models have rubber parts that tend to fray over time.
Press down with two hands
Muscles worked: Triceps
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall in the upper position and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to the two handles.
Stand facing the wall and clasp the handles of the expander with your hands with a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Bend your elbows at an angle of 90 ° and move away from the wall to a distance of light tension on the elastic tubes. Feet shoulder width apart. Knees slightly bent. The torso is tilted slightly (15-20 ° ) forward. The elbows are slightly extended in front of the body. Maintain this body position for the rest of the set.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, keeping your elbows as close to your sides as possible, bend your arms down. Extending your arms downward, at the moment when your little fingers are below your elbows, begin to smoothly turn your hands and spread your arms out to the sides along your body so that when you fully straighten your arms, your palms are pointing back. With your arms fully extended, achieve peak triceps contraction. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise Tips : Do not move your elbows throughout the exercise. The upper arms, torso and legs remain motionless until the end of the set!
Do not loosen your grip during the exercise and do not straighten your wrists!
Increasing the load should not be an obstacle to maintaining the correct technique for performing the exercise.
Recommended initial load: men - black or blue tube, women - red or green tube.
Arm extension from the top position
Muscles worked: Long (back) triceps
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall in the upper position and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to the two handles.
Stand with your back to the wall and grab the handles of the expander with an overhand grip. Raise your arms up and forward at a 45° angle from the vertical. Bend your elbows at an angle of 90° and move away from the wall to the distance of light tension of the elastic tubes. Feet shoulder-width apart or, to give your body a more stable position, take a small step forward with one leg.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, keeping your shoulders motionless, smoothly straighten your arms at the elbows.
With your arms fully extended, achieve peak triceps contraction. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise Tips : The resistance should not be too high, as this can disrupt the technique of the exercise, which significantly reduces the load on the triceps and the effectiveness of the entire exercise.
Fixing the upper arms at an angle of 45° to the vertical is an important element of the exercise. Fully straighten your arms at the top of the exercise to achieve maximum triceps contraction.
Recommended initial load: men - black or blue tube, women - red tube.
Exercises with an expander in a clamp
A clamp is placed on the handles of the expander
The clamp is used to fix the handles in a parallel position in the stage preceding full closure and to train the grip strength at this stage. The clamp is usually a large diameter washer that fits over a spring, or a hose clamp that fits over the top of the handles. They can be purchased at any hardware store. The clamp does not allow the handles to open wider than desired. Locking in the half-close position allows you to train a sharp close and negative contraction - tighter than what you normally train with. Typically, the handles are fixed at a distance of 2.5 cm to several millimeters. Installing the clamp for a long time should not affect the spring stiffness. If the clamp is weak, a tight wrist expander can break it.
The big advantage of training with a resistance band in a clamp is that you can train for as long as you like without having to set it in your palm before each rep. If you train with a grip at or above your limit, using a clamp can significantly reduce the stress on your joints that occurs when installing and performing negative compression. The clamp also makes the gripper less traumatic.
Kneeling Press Down
Muscles involved: Triceps.
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall in the upper position and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to two handles or straps.
Kneel down facing the wall (about 1 meter from the wall) and clasp the handles of the expander with an overhand grip. Bend your elbows at an angle of 90°. The torso is tilted slightly (15-20 ° ) forward.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, keeping your elbows as close to your sides as possible, bend your arms down. With your arms fully extended, achieve peak triceps contraction. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise Tips : Do not move your elbows throughout the exercise. The upper arms, torso and legs remain motionless until the end of the exercise.
Increasing the load should not be an obstacle to maintaining the correct technique for performing the exercise.
Recommended initial load: men - black or blue tube, women - red tube
Exercise No. 6. Traction (chin pull) with an expander
Goal: working out the front, middle and rear deltas. Technique: hold the shoulder (chest) expander on the floor with one foot. We grasp the handle with both hands. While inhaling, use the deltas to stretch the handle to the chin. As you exhale, we return to the original position. We repeat the movement 15–20 times. Explanation: Experiment with the position of your leg holding the resistance band. This is the best complex exercise with an expander for developing deltoids. An alternative is chin-up with a barbell or dumbbells.
French press
Muscles worked: Long (back) triceps
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall in the upper position and fasten the ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to the two handles.
Stand with your back to the wall and grab the handles of the expander with an overhand grip. Take your arms bent at the elbows back behind your head.
Tighten your psoas muscles and maintain the natural, S-shaped curve of your spine. The chin is parallel to the floor or slightly raised up.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, keeping your shoulders motionless, smoothly straighten your arms at the elbows.
With your arms fully extended, achieve peak triceps contraction. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
Exercise tips : Throughout the entire set, do not relax the lumbar muscles and firmly fix the spine in a natural position (torso straight, back slightly arched in the lower back).
Try to always keep your upper arms (elbow to shoulder) still and as close to vertical as possible. By bending your elbows forward, you reduce the effectiveness of the exercise, since the focus of the load shifts from the triceps to other muscles.
Fully straighten your arms at the top of the exercise to achieve maximum triceps contraction.
The decisive role in the exercise is played not by the working weight, but by the correct technique.
Recommended initial load: men - black or blue + yellow tube, women - red tube.
One-arm press down
Muscles worked: Outer triceps
Starting position: Secure the expander using the clamp to the wall (door) in the upper position and fasten both ends of the elastic tube or several tubes to one strap or handle.
Stand with your side to the wall and grab the strap or handle of the expander with the hand farthest from the wall. Bend your arm at the elbow joint and press it towards your body. The working hand should be in the same vertical plane with the expander. Move away from the wall to a distance of light tension of the elastic tubes.
Performing the exercise: As you exhale, keeping the elbow of your working arm pressed to your body, straighten your arm down. With your arm fully extended, achieve peak contraction of the triceps. As you inhale, smoothly return to the starting position.
After completing the set with one arm, begin performing this triceps exercise with the other arm.
Exercise Tips : Keep the elbow of your working arm motionless and as close to the side of your body as possible. By moving your elbow to the side, you strengthen the contraction of the long head of the triceps, but at the same time weaken the load on the lateral (side) head of the triceps, which is precisely what this exercise is aimed at.
The reverse grip squat press also thoroughly engages the medial (inner) head of the triceps. It is she who begins to straighten the arm. But if you want to achieve its maximum contraction, stand facing the wall and perform arm extension in a plane perpendicular to the torso.
Recommended initial load: men - red or red + yellow tubes, women - green or yellow tube.
Results from exercises with an expander
By regularly performing exercises with an expander for men, you can:
- strengthen and develop the muscles of the arms, abdomen, legs, shoulder girdle;
- increase the level of endurance and get rid of excess fat (to do this, you should perform the exercises quickly, with minimal breaks between approaches and with a large number of repetitions);
- strengthen the cardiovascular system (exercises with an expander are similar in effectiveness to running, which can cause knee problems if you are overweight or old);
- increase joint mobility and flexibility. published econet.ru. If you have any questions on this topic, ask them to the experts and readers of our project here .
Did you like the article? Write your opinion in the comments. Subscribe to our FB:
