Right, so anyone that has me as a friend on Facebook will be aware of how I threw this post open to the readers, for them to decide what they'd like to see me talking about. I posted asking people to get in touch telling me what areas/muscles of their bodies that they'd like to work and promised to post exercises that I believe will really work that area. Bearing that in mind, I'm going to answer all of the replies I had for that post. The main areas that I've been asked to look at were abs & obliques, arms, and legs, so we've got a fairly comprehensive list there. It's probably just easiest to start at the top and work my way down so I'm going to kick things off with some arm exercises. I'll also post links to descriptions of the exercises.
Due to the fact that its female interest in arms I'll focus this more on toning them up rather than building any significant muscle. People may disagree with me, but in my opinion the best way to tone without putting on muscle mass is to keep the weights that are being used fairly low and throw in some bodyweight exercises too. However what you have to remember is to successfully tone, you're going to have to reduce your body fat as much as possible to make it easier for the exercises to work. So pick a weight that really isn't too heavy for you and go through any of these following exercises.
Tricep Kickbacks - Kickbacks
Single arm Tricep cable pulldowns - Pulldowns
Bench Dips - Dips
Dumbbell Bicep Curls
Zottman Curls - Zottman
Ok so you've got a few different exercises there, hitting the biceps and triceps and also my personal favourite - the Zottman curl, which incorporates your forearms into the exercise. Anyway, on to the abdominal area, I was asked specifically to focus on obtaining V lines. As I've talked about before this involves heavy emphasis on your internal and external obliques, but you can't leave your transversus and rectus abdominis muscles out so I'll throw in a couple of exercises for those too. All of the descriptions for these exercises are in the 'Blasting your core' post, I'm just naming my favourites.
Side Plank with lateral Dumbbell Raise (This really cuts into your internal obliques, and the added dumbbell raise really tests your stability, making the exercise that bit more demanding)
Leg Raises into twists (This is one of my personal favourites, as you're working your transversus and rectus abdominis, whilst working your internal and external obliques. Due to the movement of the exercise it can be seen to work all of your abs. I'd recommend doing this to failure)
Heel Touches (This isn't covered in the other post, but its fairly simple. Lie flat on your back, and pull your feet up towards you so they're still on the floor and your knees are bent. Lift your shoulders off the floor in almost a crunch motion - proceed to try and touch your heels with the corresponding hand, complete this as many times as you can.
Killer Twists (Again a brilliant exercise for your core as it works on your stability and strength whilst really cutting into your obliques)
Mason Twists (This exercise relies on your transversus abdominis strength whilst working your obliques, check earlier posts for the description)
Suicide Planks (These focus purely on your transversus abdominis, an absolute killer exercise)
So there you have more than enough abdominal exercises to really cut into your core and achieve those hallowed V lines. On to leg exercises, and most of these shouldn't need any description, however if you feel that you need one, there are plenty in earlier posts.
Lunges with dumbbells
Barbell Back Squat
Goblet Squats (Holding a kettlebell or dumbbell like a goblet, perform a squat)
Prisoner Squats (Perform a bodyweight squat with both hands on the back of your head)
Bent Legged Deadlifts
Calf Raises
Side Lunges (With Dumbbells)
Okay so they're all of the areas that I've been asked to focus on, so I hope everyone that wanted them tries them out, and please let me know how they work out for you. If there's anything else that people would like me to talk about then please get in touch and tell me. You can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Wrightyx or Twitter - @_Bazinga_Punk_ . Also, I'm aware that I haven't posted workout pictures of Friday's session with @JonesGx - I apologise for this as it slipped my mind in the midst of the workout. I shall do my best to get some snaps this friday, mainly of the more complicated exercises that I've posted about. I'll also post the full heavy workout that we've been experimenting with, and hopefully you guys will have a go at it too. I'll try and get another post up as soon as I can. In the meantime, get in touch with me and let me know what you'd like to read about. I'll also be comparing notes with my friend @GarethFrazer1 on essential bodybuilding facts. So until then,
Keep testing the limits!
Alex.
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