By Kathy Gilbert
Staff Writer
Popeye may have wooed Olive Oyl by flashing his biceps. But if he wanted to pitch for the Yankees or heave a bag of concrete, fitness pros said, he should have exercised his chest, abs and thighs.
Arm muscles don?t have to be huge to be strong and functional, said Julian Kaufman, owner of the soon-to-open Fitness Together-Chattanooga at Frazier Place.
"Men think they?ll attract girls with big biceps," he said. "But it has almost no functionality."
Lay a foundation in the lower body and torso, he added, then add bicep and tricep exercises to complete the package.
Olympic powerlift training is the best training for baseball or golf, Mr. Kaufman said. Ball players literally "wind up," pulling energy through quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and lower back and releasing it with explosive power through the arm, he said. Rapidly lifting a weight from floor to above the head works fast-twitch muscle fibers, the source of that explosive power.
"The moves don?t just develop strength," Mr. Kaufman said. "They develop power."
In her Cleveland YMCA aerobics class, instructor Lisa Oakley said she builds a different kind of power. Most of her clients, she said, are more worried about toning flab than hurling balls.
To boost endurance and tone muscles, the class does lots of reps with light weights ? as many as 60 reps of each exercise, "drop-setting" the weight. Drop-setting fatigues or "blasts" the muscles each set by working at the heaviest weight the muscle can stand. As the muscle fatigues, the weight required is reduced. But that muscle is still "blasting," she said.
Arm moves are often combined with squats, lunges and other lower-body training, Ms. Oakley added. This boosts the cardiovascular effort. Combining lean muscle building with a calorie-burning cardio routine helps reduce body fat.
Women lift at about 10, 8 and 5 pounds. Men should use heavier weights, she said.
But don?t grab those 25-pound barbells right away, she added. Too much weight can lead to body-wrecking accidents, such as pulled back muscles. Even if not injured, bad form means the target muscle is not challenged. Other muscles are allowed to pick up the slack.
"Don?t swing your arms," Ms. Oakley said. "Isolate the muscles."
Curls are the standard exercises for biceps. To shape and tone, muscles need to be hit from all angles, Mr. Kaufman said. After a few weeks, muscles get into a groove. They need new exercises to "shock" them into new activity, Ms. Oakley said.
Picking and choosing exercises to keep muscles growing is more art than science, said Sassey Easton, a longtime trainer and owner of Sasa Bodies in East Brainerd.
She often experiments, she said. If a muscle doesn?t respond to one exercise quickly, she tries another. The basic recipe for most people is the same, she said. "Fat hates activity," Ms. Easton said.
For men, she often recommends barbell curls.
Unfortunately, she added, many men are stalled out in this exercise, she added. Either they?ve been doing it too long without a break or they have poor form.
"Barbell curls are one of the most popular weight-training exercises," Ms. Easton said, "but also one of the most abused." Folks often mistakenly swing the bar, pulling on lower back muscles, she said. This threatens back health while reducing the challenge to the arms.
Preacher curls, where weights are lifted while sitting, against a pad positioned behind the arms, may be a good substitute for the barbell curl, she added.
E-mail Kathy Gilbert at kgilbert@timesfreepress.com
Staff Writer
Popeye may have wooed Olive Oyl by flashing his biceps. But if he wanted to pitch for the Yankees or heave a bag of concrete, fitness pros said, he should have exercised his chest, abs and thighs.
Arm muscles don?t have to be huge to be strong and functional, said Julian Kaufman, owner of the soon-to-open Fitness Together-Chattanooga at Frazier Place.
"Men think they?ll attract girls with big biceps," he said. "But it has almost no functionality."
Lay a foundation in the lower body and torso, he added, then add bicep and tricep exercises to complete the package.
Olympic powerlift training is the best training for baseball or golf, Mr. Kaufman said. Ball players literally "wind up," pulling energy through quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and lower back and releasing it with explosive power through the arm, he said. Rapidly lifting a weight from floor to above the head works fast-twitch muscle fibers, the source of that explosive power.
"The moves don?t just develop strength," Mr. Kaufman said. "They develop power."
In her Cleveland YMCA aerobics class, instructor Lisa Oakley said she builds a different kind of power. Most of her clients, she said, are more worried about toning flab than hurling balls.
To boost endurance and tone muscles, the class does lots of reps with light weights ? as many as 60 reps of each exercise, "drop-setting" the weight. Drop-setting fatigues or "blasts" the muscles each set by working at the heaviest weight the muscle can stand. As the muscle fatigues, the weight required is reduced. But that muscle is still "blasting," she said.
Arm moves are often combined with squats, lunges and other lower-body training, Ms. Oakley added. This boosts the cardiovascular effort. Combining lean muscle building with a calorie-burning cardio routine helps reduce body fat.
Women lift at about 10, 8 and 5 pounds. Men should use heavier weights, she said.
But don?t grab those 25-pound barbells right away, she added. Too much weight can lead to body-wrecking accidents, such as pulled back muscles. Even if not injured, bad form means the target muscle is not challenged. Other muscles are allowed to pick up the slack.
"Don?t swing your arms," Ms. Oakley said. "Isolate the muscles."
Curls are the standard exercises for biceps. To shape and tone, muscles need to be hit from all angles, Mr. Kaufman said. After a few weeks, muscles get into a groove. They need new exercises to "shock" them into new activity, Ms. Oakley said.
Picking and choosing exercises to keep muscles growing is more art than science, said Sassey Easton, a longtime trainer and owner of Sasa Bodies in East Brainerd.
She often experiments, she said. If a muscle doesn?t respond to one exercise quickly, she tries another. The basic recipe for most people is the same, she said. "Fat hates activity," Ms. Easton said.
For men, she often recommends barbell curls.
Unfortunately, she added, many men are stalled out in this exercise, she added. Either they?ve been doing it too long without a break or they have poor form.
"Barbell curls are one of the most popular weight-training exercises," Ms. Easton said, "but also one of the most abused." Folks often mistakenly swing the bar, pulling on lower back muscles, she said. This threatens back health while reducing the challenge to the arms.
Preacher curls, where weights are lifted while sitting, against a pad positioned behind the arms, may be a good substitute for the barbell curl, she added.
E-mail Kathy Gilbert at kgilbert@timesfreepress.com
