KinX Learning

An effective exercise to work the triceps, especially the long head in two actions, is the triceps kickback. Exercise Execution Assume a bent-over position so that your trunk is horizontal (parallel to the floor). Your feet should be flat on the floor in a stride or square stance and your knees should be slightly bent. Hold a dumbbell with a neutral grip and bend your arm so that your upper arm is alongside your body and your forearm hangs straight down or is slightly under your arm. Support your body with your free arm by placing your hand on a bench.   When you are ready, inhale slightly more than usual and hold your breath as you extend your arm until it is straight. Keep your elbow in place as you move the hand with the weight backward and upward in an arc of a circle.  After your arm is fully extended, continue the upward movement of the entire arm bringing it as high as possible. In the final position the dumbbell should be 30 to 45° above the level of your back. Your trunk should remain parallel to the floor throughout execution. Exhale and slowly return to the initial position, keeping the weight under control. Comments In correct execution you must maintain a stable bent-over position so that your back remains in the horizontal position. This is needed for safety and to ensure that the muscles work directly against gravity for maximum resistance.  In their zeal to use heavier weights, many athletes and bodybuilders raise their shoulder to get the weight sufficiently up and back. This action uses the spinal rotational muscles and does not fully involve the long head of the triceps. The key is to keep your shoulders in place.  Excessively heavy weights lead to a decreased range of motion and also limit your ability to fully extend your arm. This defeats the purpose of the exercise and when continued for a long time, can decrease your flexibility.  In comparison to other triceps extension exercises, the triceps kickback is more difficult to execute. It requires more stability, coordination, and balance for effective execution. Therefore, before beginning this exercise you should be proficient in doing other triceps exercises.  When executing the arm raise portion of this exercise, only the long head of the triceps is actively involved. At the same time, the medial and lateral heads as well as the lower end of the long head remain under isometric contraction to keep the elbow joint extended.  As a result, you get a "double" contraction of the long head of the triceps with shortening of the tendons at both ends of the muscle together with the entire muscle. First the lower end shortens and remains contracted while the upper end contracts, providing you with maximal shortening of the tendons and muscle. This produces the strongest muscle contraction, which is the key to greater strength development.  Many bodybuilders and athletes have a tendency to swing the weight so that they can raise it as high as possible. However, this defeats the purpose of the exercise. When you allow the weight to descend quickly at the beginning of the exercise and then continue on back and upward, inertia carries the weight for a great distance and your muscles do very little work except to guide the action. Because of this, it is important that you stop after your arm is straight and then raise your arm. You will feel a distinct difference when execution is done in this manner.

Almost everyone has done push-ups at one time or another when in school. They are often used as a test of fitness, training for shoulder girdle and arm strength. However, how you execute the push-up dictates the muscle development that you receive.  Variant 1: Elbows out The anterior deltoid, pectoralis major, and coracobrachialis are involved in horizontal adduction in the shoulder joint. In this action the upper arms move from a position in line with the shoulders to a vertical position under the shoulders. In the shoulder girdle, there is scapula abduction performed by the pectoralis minor and the serratus anterior. In the elbow joint there is extension performed by the triceps brachii. In scapula abduction the scapulae move out to the sides of the body from a position alongside the spine. In elbow extension the arm straightens as the upper arm moves away from the forearm.  Variant 2: Elbows in close to the sides In the shoulder joint the anterior deltoid and the upper pectoralis major are involved in shoulder joint flexion and upward rotation of the scapula. In this action the right scapula rotates counterclockwise and the left clockwise when viewed from the rear. At the same time the scapulae move out away from the spine toward the sides of the body. In the elbow joint there is extension, in which the arms straighten as the upper arms move away from the forearms.

Breathing plays an important role not only in exercise, but in relaxation. When your respiratory muscles are strong, you are capable of taking in and processing more air per breath. As a result, you can get greater amounts of oxygen, which the body needs not only for the production of energy but to help in your recovery. The stronger your respiratory muscles are, the more effective is your cardiovascular endurance. By improving the strength of the muscles involved in breathing, you will be able to prevent not only the onset of fatigue but to recover faster. Keep in mind that respiratory fatigue occurs before cardiovascular fatigue. Thus your breathing is directly related to your endurance as well as to your lifting. When you do your strength exercises, how you breathe is very important. Because of this, you should develop proper breathing patterns from the start. This also applies to execution of your sports skills. In this book the instructions for the exercises tell you to inhale and hold your breath on exertion - that is, on the hardest part of the exercise when you are overcoming resistance. You then exhale on the return, staying in control of the movements. But don’t be surprised if you read or hear the opposite from other sources—that you should exhale on exertion and inhale on the return. But this widely used recommendation to exhale on exertion is based on theory, not research or actual practice. In addition, it applies mainly to people with heart and circulatory system problems. For example, if you hold your breath too long in a maximal resistance exercise (up to eight seconds) you could pass out. This is because the internal pressure in the chest and abdomen increases when you hold your breath on exertion. If it increases greatly, it squeezes down on the blood vessels shuttling blood and oxygen to and from the heart. When this happens, you may black out (but rarely, and only on maximum exertion with the breath held too long. If you are without cardiovascular problems and you do not hold your breath for more than a few seconds as needed in the recommended exercises, the breath-holding on exertion is perfectly safe. It makes the exercises safer and more effective. If you have high blood pressure or other circulatory system or heart problems, avoid heavy resistance training and breath-holding. In fact, you probably should not participate in a strength or explosive sport which requires not only great physical exertion but intense breath holding. Inhaling and holding the breath briefly on exertion—any exertion, in execution of a strength exercise or in sports, comes naturally. Many studies have shown that whenever athletic skills are executed properly, athletes hold their breath on the exertion—during the power phase when maximum force is generated. The breathholding is important for generating greater force, having more accuracy and control and for the prevention of injury.  For example, Inhaling and holding the breath on exertion provides up to 20 percent greater force, stabilizes the spine, and helps prevents lower back injuries. It transforms the trunk (and sometimes the whole body) into a stable unit against which your hips, shoulders, and arms can move more effectively.  Breathing exercises can also help you relax. For example, it is not uncommon to read that you should inhale and then exhale before starting a race, game or skill execution. This is a good technique to help you relax. But before starting, it is important that the muscles have some tension—not excessive tension, but sufficient tension to take-off with power. This is why you should never completely exhale before starting. Hold slightly more than your usual breath. Thus, inhalation and breath-holding are needed immediately before and during execution of the key actions. Studies done with devices to monitor breathing patterns have proven this beyond any doubt. To execute a powerful lift or execute a powerful sports skill, you must hold your breath during execution. In effective breathing, do not take a maximal breath and then hold it. Holding a maximal breath can make you very uncomfortable. Just take a slightly greater than usual breath and then hold it to experience the positive benefits. This is especially important for stabilizing the body, holding the spine in position, and getting greater power in execution of the skill. The breath holding time is very short. Thus, you should have no fear of holding the breath too long or of overexerting yourself. Exhalation, especially after a deep breath, is very beneficial for relaxation. Thus, anytime you exhale during execution of a maximal lift, you are telling the muscles to relax rather than to remain under contraction to accomplish the work that has to be done. The exhalation weakens your body greatly and can lead to injury. Some exhalation during a lift can be of benefit. For example, if you are doing a very heavy squat, or handling great weight in a squat, and you are coming up out of the down position very slowly, the amount of pressure being built up is quite great. To relieve some of this pressure, exhale slightly through pursed lips to relieve some of the pressure. However, do not let all the air out until you have passed the sticking point, or most difficult part of the up phase. Exhaling after you have passed the most difficult part of the lift is also very important for relieving the built up thoracic and abdominal pressure. The key is to be sure that you exhale after passing the sticking point, not before. Too often exhalation at this time is taken to indicate exhalation on exertion, but it is after the exertion, not during. Keep in mind that proper breathing is essential to successful execution of strength exercises, especially when handling heavy weights. Breath holding on exertion is a natural consequence. If no one told you how to breathe, you would automatically hold your breath when lifting a heavy weight. You also hold your breath when receiving an object coming at you, as for example when someone is throwing a medicine ball or even a punch. You need the breath-holding to stabilize the body, to better withstand the force or the blow that you are about to receive. If you still believe that you should exhale on the exertion, then you can prove to yourself that this does not happen naturally. Watch a person lifting maximal weights or what an athlete does when he catches a medicine ball thrown to him. You will see that he or she automatically inhales and holds the breath as they prepare for the lift or the catch. Also, try to find a research study that can substantiate your belief that exhalation occurs on exertion. I assure you that you will not find any. You may see authors theorize that this should occur but they never actually prove it. When you do find literature or studies recommending exhalation on exertion, you'll see that they deal with people who have heart or circulatory problems. You will not find any dealing with healthy individuals, especially athletes. Thus, you should not be duped by this myth that has been perpetuated in the fitness and sports fields. Be more in tune with nature and do what your body does naturally. Your workouts will be much more effective and safer.