Do It Better – Week 3 Day 5
We could call this an “isolation day”. Let´s target your arms, shall we?
Pushdowns
Resistance band pushdowns isolate the triceps, and bands are far better than a cable machine in that regard. The resistance of a band will always increase the more you stretch it, and that’s also the natural strength curve of your muscle, having the most power in the full contraction. With free weights, you often fatigue in the expanded part of your muscle without fully fatiguing the whole muscle. Especially in the starting position, we are weaker than in the finishing position. Bands are perfect since they provide less resistance at the start of the movement and maximize the resistance at the end where we are the strongest.
Attach the resistance band to a pole or a door, above your head.
- Starting position: Grab the resistance band with both hands, palms facing down, just below chest height. Keep your elbows tight into your side.
- Exhale and drive your hands down towards your waist, contracting your triceps. You will only move your forearms and hands. The elbows stay in place and don’t move.
- Inhale and slowly return to the starting position.
High anchor biceps curl
This variation allows us to isolate the biceps while standing in a comfortable position, and preventing to round our shoulders. It´s really easy to spot if we´re letting the shoulders going forward.
Attach the resistance band to a pole or a door, a little higher than shoulder height. Face the band and grip the handles with palms facing forward. Take a few steps back until you can comfortably extend your arms, with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Starting position: Raise your arms until your elbows reach shoulder height. Make sure your arms and shoulders are in a straight line and aligned with the handles.
- Exhale as you perform a curl, squeezing your biceps.
- Inhale and slowly extend your arms back to the starting position. Do not lock out your elbows.
Tips to get the most out of this workout
- Read the instructions on how to do the exercises. If you skipped it, scroll up. It´s important to keep the technique in mind to perform the exercises correctly.
- Watch the first two sets before you start and visualize yourself performing the exercises.
- Grab the equipment you need (mat, resistance bands), put them in position, and keep close your bottle of water.
- Mute your phone. Next 10 minutes you´ll be unavailable.
- We aim for a total of 10 sets (5 sets each exercise), with no rest in between. However, if you need to rest, press pause and take your time.
- Each set is 1 minute long. If it´s too much for you right now, do as many repetitions as possible.
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