which weights ?

Question

15 yrs old - 5"7 - been working on arms for a while but never a spercific dumbell weight, which one should i use and how often ?

Answer 1

start off with 1 kg on each end 3 sets of 10 . always pull up slowly and let down slowly never jolt .after a week increase by 1 kg each end , and so on. never try to load up with an incredible heavy weight strait away , this will do no good .Only work on thearms 3 days a week

Answer 2

I wrote this routine for a guy on answers yesterday but its a good starting point for anybody, personally I would join a gym (local council ones are cheap) or you could pick up a set of weights on eBay or Argos for about £25 or less(you will need to modify some of the exercises if you are working out at home, see website below) its not about what weights you use, its about how you use them, with proper form and speed, and remember you build muscle when you sleep, so don't workout more than 3 times a week to start with and leave 48 hours between workouts , Monday , Wednesday and Friday work well.

You need to do a whole body routine. Pick one compound (compound means that it uses all the parts of the muscle) exercise per bodypart and do 3 sets on each. Do 12 reps on the first set 10 on the second and 8 on the third putting the weight up on each set, you want to use enough weight to be struggling to push out the last rep on each set. A sample routine would be.

1) Bench Press - Chest

2)Lat Pull down - Back

3)Seated Shoulder Press - Shoulders

4)Bicep Curls any type - Biceps

5)Triceps push downs any type - Triceps

6)Squats/Leg press - Legs

7)20 Min's on treadmill, rower or cross trainer - aerobics

Leave about 30-60 seconds between each set and do them in this order, free weights are better but machines are fine for a beginner, do this for a few months putting the weight up when you can (you must make the last reps in each set hard to do to make the muscles grow). After that you can change your workout (ie do dumbell presses instead of barbell etc) but try to keep to this order.

You will see people do all sorts of weird and wonderful exercises but if you stick to simple basic compound exercises you wont go far wrong.

This site is good as it tells you which exercises are Basic/ Compound and how to do them (video). http://www.exrx.net/lists/directory.html...

You should be out of the gym inside of a hour.



1 Rep = 1 movement, ie on bench press you start with your arms fully extended lower the weight slowly to touch your chest briefly and lightly then extend arms back to start.

1 set is a set amount of reps, ie your first set will be 12 of the above, the second will be 10 and third 8.

Answer 3

use whatever weight that is hard enough so that you can only do 8-12 reps with it without resting. the point is to always stay in a place that is hard an increase the wieght. pick a weight that you can only do 8 reps with, and over time(a while, be patient) you will be able to do 12 reps with that same wieght.. then use more wieght.. this is how to build muscle.

do bench presses too.. the "back" of your arm (tricep) is actually 2/3 of your entire arm muscle.. lay on your back and press the dumbells up. the method discribed above about what wieght to use should be used with every excercise you do.

Answer 4

dont over exercise your arms because you will end up doing them more harm than good. I start off with a light weight to warm up, say 15 reps, and then work down the reps and increase the weight. Normally i work to near failure of the arm to get a super workout, and the next day you should feel a tightening in the arm. increase your weights as you seen fit, and dont try lift too much. You should start to see results in 30 days Good luck pal! And I would say no more than twice per week. Eat lots of protein too, this is to build muscle. Do a search for what you should be eating online here.