Dumbbell Arnold Press

The Dumbbell Arnold Press is a multi-joint otherwise known as compound movement with a focus on the shoulder muscles.

This exercise is suitable for intermediate and advanced athletes because of it's kinesiological complex rotation of the shoulder during the its execution. For best results it is to be executed slowly with strict form.

Contraindications

• If you have a shoulder, rotator cuffs, scapula, elbow or neck injury consult the use of the Arnold press with kinesiologist, physiotherapist or a coach experienced with such type of exercises.
• In the event of a sharp pain, cramping or a stretch deep in the shoulder muscle, terminate the movement.
• Do not perform the Arnold press with heavy weight before you're confident in the mobility of your shoulders.

Muscles Involved

Target

• Deltoid, Anterior
• Synergists
• Deltoid, Lateral
• Supraspinatus
• Triceps Brachii
• Trapezius, Middle
• Trapezius, Lower
• Serratus Anterior, Inferior Digitations

Dynamic Stabilizers

• Triceps, Long Head

Stabilizers

• Trapezius, Upper
• Levator Scapulae

Options

Variations according to the position of the body

• Seated - Performed on an incline bench with a 70-80 degrees angle and a 10-15 degrees angle on the seat if possible. Feet are firmly anchored in the ground or on logs. Suitable option for intermediate and advanced.
• Standing - the body is standing straight , core is tight. The technique allows for cheating by using your legs and glutes. The benefits for intermediate lifters here aren't that many. This variation is suitable for advanced exercisers with good core strength.

Although the goal of the Arnold  press is not to lift heavy weight, but to work with moderately heavy weight stricter execution predisposes for sarcoplasmic increase in mass and strength endurance training. The power lift for the shoulders is namely the Military press, it is best to save the really heavy weight for that movement.

Method of execution of the seated Arnold Press

Preparation

Move the bench in front of a mirror.

Adjust the slope of the bench.

Make sure you can arch your back slightly when you have positioned your feet on the ground, if you are unable to do so put a disc under your feet.

Warm-up with a light weight.

Use your knees to help clean the dumbbells up to the starting position.

Performance

• Initiate movement by bringing elbows out to sides. Continue to raise elbows outward while pressing dumbbells overhead until arms are straight. Lower to front of shoulders in opposite pattern and repeat.
• Before you lower the arms to the starting position on the way back, pull the shoulder blades down and inward towards your spine.

Comments and recommendations

• The proper execution here is much more important than the weight. If you feel that your technique breaks down, do not hesitate to replace dumbbells with a smaller number. 
• Attempts to failure here must be done strictly with a spotter who can hold the dumbbells / elbows / wrists. Otherwise, the risk of injury is great.
• Terminate the movement if you lose control/stabilization in your core while moving the weight upwards in the standing variation of the Dumbbell Arnold Press.

Relevancy

Fitness and Bodybuilding

You can include this exercise as a first or a second main movement into your routine for mass and as a first exercise in routines for condition.

Administration in power and strength-conditioning workouts

The movement is too isolated to be incorporated as a main movement into powerlifting routines.

Consider alternatives like the Kettlebell One Arm Military press, Barbell Military Press etc.

Fitness and Bodybuilding

A good choice for mass and strength endurance, suitable as a second movement in a routine for bulking and as a first movement in routines aiming to cut down.

Cross Fit

This is not recommended for crossfit athlethes namely because of its isolation character.

Calisthenics

This movement can be performed with certain types of bands, or Indian push ups can be performed as the movement is relatively close to the Arnold Press.

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Hard work on basic exercises.

The routine was created by Professor Bradley J. Steiner, a recognized expert in the past in strength training and martial arts. Professor Steiner has dozens of publications in peer-reviewed journals from the 60s of the last century to the present day, as well as several books related to strength training, bodybuilding, martial arts and powerlifting.

Most natural bodybuilders from the past such as Reg Park, John Grimek, Steve Stanko and others trained with similar routines.

The program is composed of heavy basic exercises such as:

• The Squat - Regular, parallel, breathing style, or front style
• The Press - Seated or standing, barbell or heavy dumbbells
• Rowing - Bent over, barbell or dumbbells, one or two arm
• Power cleans and High pulls
• Bench pressing - barbell or heavy dumbbells, Incline or flat bench style
• Stiff-legged dead lifting and heavy barbell good mornings

The workout routine:

This is a sample program by Bradley J. Steiner:

1. Warm up: Swing - 1 x 20
2. Warm-up - 1 x 20
3. Squat - 5 x 5
4. Bench press - 5 x 5
5. Stiff-leg dead lift - 5 x 5
6. Bent-over rowing - 5 x 5
7. Press behind neck - 5 x 5
8. Leg raises 1 x 25

Features

You must warm up,pick an exercise that will warm up your whole body like the snatch, Russian Kettlebell  Swings etc.
The system of basic exercises is "5 x 5". In this case this means that you have two sets of warm-up and then three sets of your actual working weight.
The first two sets should be with lighter weight, the first is to warm-up and the second is to "adapt".
Your goal is to run 3 consecutive sets with the same weight that allows you 5 reps with strict form.
Core exercises are required at the end of each workout, exercises like leg raises, crunches etc.

Recommendations

This is just an example of the routine you can choose different variations of the basic exercises depending on your goals. The main goal is to keep the numbers and the sequence of exercises.
This program is executed three times per week or every other day.
The key to building muscle gains is concentrating on basic compound exercises.

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Bruce Randall (II)

This is the continuation of the first article about Bruce Randall and his amazing transformation. If you missed the previous article, we recommend you begin with it.

On 2 August 1955 the scale showed that Bruce weighted 182 kg. Then he took a hard decision, a decision to get rid of the excess fat. According to authorities in weightlifting and physical education, he would have never been able to lose the excess weight and participate in any bodybuilding competitions. But the word "never" motivated Bruce to begin to sculpt his body like a sculptor, a sculptor having only dumbbells and barbells as tools.

The Beginning

 Randall realized the need to radically change his eating and exercise habits . After pondering on the subject for a while, he decided to do the opposite of everything that helped him to increase his weight. At first he began reducing the amount of food he took. Then  he gradually eliminated carbohydrate and fat heavy foods from his diet, and accordingly increased the intake of protein, fruits and vegetables.

He also increased his training sets and repetitions - instead of 3 sets of 3-5 reps, he did 4-5 sets of 12-15, depending on the muscle group. His training included 20 exercises and takes about 6-7 hours a day. Bruce was consumed by the idea and was focused only on that specific idea.

Cardio

 Randall included running as a cardio along with his heavy weight training.In the first few weeks he just walked, while trying to increase the distance and pace every next workout.

After some time, Bruce began to run with a slow pace and when he got tired he would switch back to walking, but he did not stop. So gradually over time and by removing excess weight Randall began to run from 5 to 8 km almost every day. He found that jogging did not influence his weight training in a bad way, on the contrary, it increased his stamina.

Diet

 This was a typical day of eating for Bruce:

• Breakfast - 2 eggs, lightly cooked, normal size;half a liter of skimmed milk, a glass of fresh orange juice and  an apple.
• Lunch - salad, dried fruits and nuts.
• Dinner - a big steak, two vegetables, a liter of skimmed milk and gelatin.

Bruce mixed dry milk with the skimmed milk to increase its protein content. From time to time, Randall drank coffee since he discovered that coffee reduces appetite.

Training

Bruce Randall often changed his workout routine, here's an example of what it often consisted of:

• Crunches, lying/hanging leg raises- 20 to 50 reps;
• Squats with no weight - 20reps;
• Leg curls - sets of 25;
• Flat bench press and chest flies - sets of 15-20;
• Pull ups, dips, bicep curls,back rows, helicopter rows- sets of 15-25;
• Incline dumbbell press, shoulder press with dumbbells - sets of 10-15;
• More crunches and leg raises - sets of 20-50;

At the end of each workout he included additional exercises, depending on what muscle groups he wanted to focus on.

Randall spent an enormous amount of time in the gym during his transformation.
Once trained 27 hours in a period of two days and 81 hours in one week. Bruce gave himself a few days off and then reverted back to heavy training. Once he trained 27 consecutive days without a break.
Imagine yourself training for 6 hours every day for 27 days, while being in a caloric deficit, most of us won't last a week.

Goals

Before the start of the new 1956 Randall set a goal for himself, he had to do 5000 sit ups every day for 15 days. His task was quite hard, but he managed to execute it with 75,000 sit-ups in 15 days. According to Bruce that helped him to drastically reduce his waist size and it also made him believe in himself much more.

Challenges

Randall often we set personal goals in order to not lose his determiation. He gave him self a certain period of time to achieve something, such as a loss of 5 kg or a reduction of several inches from his waist, etc.With  Bruce taught himself this method of setting objectives when his focus was on increasing his weight and strenght. Back then set goals such as increasing his dead lift or bench press strength in a certain period of time. Randall loved to challenge himself.

The Result

In the end, after all the challenges on 20 March 1956 the scale showed a personal weight of 83kg.In 32 weeks Bruce Randall had lost 98 kg. According to some that weight loss was very "violent" and made Randall lose a big chunk of his strength, but that did not bother Bruce. Just a few years later, he won the prestigious "Mr. Universe" - in 1959, with a personal weight of 97kg.

Bruce Randall shared that two specific rules have always helped him in achieving his goals, and those rules were:

Ask and get answers.
God helps those who help themselves.

Ranking in competitions

1956 - "Mr. America" ​​- AAU - 13th;
1957 - "Mr. America" ​​- AAU - 6th;
1958 - "Mr. Universe" pros - NABBA - second in highest class;
1959 - "Mr. Universe" pros - NABBA - first in highest class;
1959 - "Mr. Universe" pros - NABBA - Overall winner.

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Personal Training

Almost every, if not every gym has one or more fitness instructors, but not every instructor is a certified personal trainer, in fact for you to be an instructor you do not have to own a personal trainer degree. Everybody that has been to a gym or is currently a member of one has some sort of an idea of what an fitness instructor is. As the representatives of this new species called "personal trainer"are still relatively few but increasing quite rapidly, I'm going to introduce you to their characteristics.

What is personal training?

This is when a person stands next to another person that is sweating and panting and encourages him to sweat and pant even more. Or so it seems.

Personal coaching is a new kind of animal - it doesn't bite nor growl, in fact it is quite strong, agile, resilient. And smart. Supposedly.

What is a personal trainer?

Personal means personal - when you workout out this person will be with you, beside you, beside you and nowhere else. Of course, not until death do you part, but at least the end of the workout. A personal trainer won't do small talk with the hot chick doing leg curls while you're doing your heavy squats or won't on the phone talking with his girlfriend while you're busting your ass on the bench, or at least a good one is not supposed to do that.

A Personal Trainer:

• Is someone who understands your needs, sees your options and helps you achieve your goals. These goals might be like :having more energy, feeling better, muscle gain, strength gain, fat loss etc. it depends on the case. Sometimes practitioners have desires that are well beyond their capabilities - then the coach's job is first increase the athlete's capabilities.
• A person with excellent knowledge of bio mechanics and kinesiology (ie someone who understands the functions of the various muscles, their qualities and properties and hence - the movement of the whole body). That, combined with his knowledge on which type of training is required for the event in question and a training suitable for the athlete grants a higher quality to the methods a personal trainer uses.
• A person that possesses excellent technique of execution of most movements. This is one of the most important characteristics for a personal trainer, a man can teach you what he can do, so you can do it as well as he can, but a man can't teach you what he does not know. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are rather rare, and usually it comes to coaches who were much better, but at some point they had to stop due to an injury (for example).personal trainer degree online
• A person that possess knowledge about nutrition, human physiology and biochemistry. Or at least, it is advisable to have that knowledge because there is no way to hard for a long time without quality recovery. There is no way to hard and with quality without being in good health. A good health and a quality recovery can't exist without good nutrition. For our good nutrition, however, it is necessary for us to know the body well enough, to know which foods will helps us reach our goals.personal trainer school online
• A person that is a good psychologist.By a"good psychologist" i don't mean that one will tell athletes to lie comfortably on the bench and then an hour he will hear your complaints about the your boss, traffic, weather, etc. and help you with your relationship problems Yes, you can have those moments, but the job of the trainer is to make it so that the nothing interferes with your training, a personal trainer should not share his problems with you as well, he can't tell you how his own boss is busting his balls every day or tell you how his wife is cheating on him etc.A good coach will not stress you with his problems he is there to encourage you and motivate you not stress you further.
• A person that will choose the best for your current physical and mental state. As I mentioned above - the intensity should be regulated to fit your current possibilities (because one day we can be at 100% and the next we can be at 5) the direction remains -he/she is to to satisfy your needs and desires. On the other hand, your personal trainer as a good psychologist should be able to sense your emotional state and know whether it is better to annihilate your body to clear your head of the crap that it has collected through the day . Or is it a better idea perform a simple toning workout because your stress has already exceeded the limit of what you can take.
• It is advisable for the coach to be familiar with the structural balance of the body. This is because most people's daily life nowadays is related to sitting on chairs and furniture which is quite often related to computer work. This leads to muscle inactivity, muscle tightness and muscle weakness in certain parts of the body (usually abdominal, waist and shoulder girdle), which in it's own turn leads to muscle imbalance that often carries health risks. A distinctive muscle imbalance may prevent us from safely executing a movement or even cause an injury that prevents us from fully or stop us from training for awhile.

Personal Training Certificates

I'll talk a little about how you can get a personal training certificate for those that are just curious or want to actually own one.
As it is now one can get a certificate even at home.
For example you can even apply to online personal trainer courses and get a personal trainer degree online by taking online personal trainer certification programs.
There are personal training colleges and also various personal trainer courses etc.
There are many organizations that offer certificates make sure you do your research before applying to one.
I don't want to get really into this topic in this post, i might cover it in a completely separate post in the future.




Above all, a personal trainer should be a role model! And that is perhaps is the most important feature because  for you to train people to get in shape, you first need to be fit. To train people to become stronger, you first need to be strong. To train people to build muscle, you need to have plenty of your own. To train people to burn fat, you must have burned your own unnessesary one first.
The difference between personal trainers can be from heaven to earth.Those are the characteristics that i believe a good personal trainer should have.
(sources:bbteam)
(pictures:fralinca.ca)

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