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The Best Exercises Ever Invented Part V: Arms

There must be thousands of exercises out there that work out every muscle and muscle group, all the way from your back down to your calves. And if you did them all in perfect form, we figured you wouldn't have any time to do the other important stuff, like eating, sleeping, sex and reading this website.

So here's the plan: While you were eating sleeping and finagling a date with some sweet young thing, we've done the homework for you. We consulted the experts (people like Paul Collins, author of How To Lose Your Love Handles and Christian Finn, creator of www.thefactsaboutfitness.com), did our research and cracked the code to bring you the best exercises ever invented for the major muscles you'd want to beef and tone up.

All you have to do — after you've scored that hot date — is, for one month, assign a muscle group to each day of a six-day week, spend 45 minutes with each workout, and gradually build the intensity of each exercise by increasing the weights or the reps. By the time that sweet young thing agrees to check out the vinyl collection in your bedroom — somewhere around the fourth date we reckon — both of you will be glad she waited for a month before she sees you naked.

ARMS

The Move A Perfect Barbell Curl

Muscle Worked Biceps, Forearms

How To Do It Like the on-flight safety demonstration, you think you know it, but here's the textbook version, minus the pretty flight attendant's plastic smiley demonstration: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart holding a barbell with an underhand grip. Keeping your upper arms tucked into your sides, curl the weight up until it reaches your shoulders. Contract your biceps, then reverse the motion. The exits are here, here and here.

What Does It Do? It keeps your biceps under constant tension, both when you raise the weight and when you lower it. This means extreme gun scultping.

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The Move Incline Dumbbell Curl

Muscle Worked Biceps, Forearms

How To Do It Lie back on an incline bench set to about 45 degrees, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Palms facing your body and arms straight. Curl the dumbbell towards your shoulders and rotate your forearm until the weights ar vertical with your palms facing each other. Lower to original and repeat to fade.

What Does It Do? On an incline bench the arm is naturally extended, giving you a greater range of motion.

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The Move Low Pulley Lying Cable Curl

Muscle Worked Still the biceps and forearms. Which should be starting to hurt just about now.

How To Do It Attach a straight bar to a low setting on the cable crossover machine, and hold it with both hands. Lie on your back with your feet resting against the cross-over machine's weight stack. Keep your elbows tucked to your sides and curl them towards your shoulders. Pause, then lower to the start position.

What Does It Do? This move changes the position of your shoulders, making the bicep work harder.

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The Move Skull Crusher

Muscle Worked Triceps

How To Do It Lie face-up on a flat bench. Hold an EZ bar above your chest, elbows locked. Keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor, slowly lower the weight by bending your elbows. Once the bar is behind your head, straighten arms to return to the start position. Squeeze your triceps at the top of the movement.

What Does It Do? It forces you to isolate your triceps, making it a great muscle builder. Don't drop the weight on your head, or you won't be able to do the rest of the workout properly. 

<< The Best Exercises Ever Invented Part I: Abs

<< The Best Exercises Ever Invented Part II: Shoulders

<< The Best Exercises Ever Invented Part III: Chest

 << Previous — The Best Exercises Ever Invented Part IV: Legs

Thumbnail photo courtesy of The Straits Times

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