How to train your major muscles

Dubai: The human body is a miraculous combination of various components that work in perfect balance. Each element, be it our bones or muscles or nerves, need to be in good health for our body to work at its best.

This week we look at our major muscle groups and how to maintain them in peak working condition. It is important to remember that embarking on this journey of toning your muscles is not just about achieving a certain body shape, it is primarily about ensuring that your muscles are in a state and form that will allow them to serve you best.

Getting familiar with the major muscle groups in the body and the workout that best suits them will help you achieve optimal results. You should also keep in mind that the focus should be on burning calories and exercising all the muscle groups and not working out muscle groups in isolation.

Chest muscles

Toning the pectoralis major muscles produces visual results immediately. The muscles are strengthened using exercises like push-ups, pull-ups and bench press. The other exercises that work well are the dumbbell fly, the barbell incline bench press, the single arm push-up, the dumbbell bench press and their various modifications. Pull-ups or chin-ups or seated pull-downs or even seated rows are great for working the upper arm muscles, especially the biceps. Plank-ups involve getting in to a plank position supporting yourself on the forearms and the balls of your feet. Keep the abs braced and then raise yourself up first on one arm and then the other so that you are now in a push up position. Then lower yourself down again one arm at a time to the plank position.

Diamond push-ups

Do a regular push-up but ensure that your hands are placed together in such a way that the thumbs and index fingers come together to form a diamond shape. A diamond push-up puts more stress on the muscles and helps strengthen them better.

Abdominal muscles

The midsection comprises of the upper and lower abs and the oblique muscles (muscles along the sides of the waist). These muscles are an important part of the body’s core and are key to our posture and our movements including sitting, walking and climbing. Getting this part of the body under control is not just about boasting a 6-pack abs; it is about life and death. Fat carried around the midsection is dangerous to one’s well-being as it is a harbinger of hypertension and chronic diseases. Fortunately this fat can be got rid of with a combination of exercise (45 minutes sessions at least 4 to 5 times per week) and diet.

Running

Nothing can beat running as far as calorie burning goes. If you can run a kilometer under 5 minutes then you can burn up to 1,000 calories in an hour! This is however not easily achievable, especially if you are a beginner. It is better to approach it in slowly increasing increments and start alternating between walking and jogging to begin with.

Core exercises

The core muscles are also strengthened with the help of exercises like crunches, sit-ups, leg-raises and abdominal bridge. However don’t be under the delusion that by just doing this you can do ‘spot-reduction’. Exercises targeting specific muscles are great for toning and sculpting but you need to do approach exercising from an overall point of view to beat the bulge.

Upper-arm muscles

Flabby arms can be a trouble spot for most women and the only way to solve this problem is to strengthen the triceps and biceps. Remember to start gradually and build up to a higher level of weights, sets and reps. Exercising the biceps (muscles in the front of the upper arm) include the pulling up action while the triceps (muscles in the back of the upper arm) are worked out by movements that include the pushing movements.

Biceps

Using the basic movement of moving your hand towards your shoulder, bicep curls are ideal for toning and shaping the upper arm muscles.

Triceps

A tricep extension involves raising the dumbbell straight over your head and then lowering the arm until your elbow forms a 90 degree angle and the weight is behind your head. Extend the arm back over the head and repeat this motion without arching your back.

A tricep press also helps one enjoy the same benefits as the triceps extension – the only difference being that you are lying down while doing the exercise.

Shoulders

The deltoids are located at the top of the shoulder and there are different exercises to target the different sections of the deltoids – the anterior (front), posterior (back) and the medial (middle). Three basic exercises are all that are required to get your shoulder muscles shapely and toned and will also result in one achieving better posture.

Dumbbell side raise

The dumbbell side or lateral raise isolates the medial deltoids. While it is usually performed with dumbbells, it is also performed with weight machines or with cable attachments. It is important to get your posture correct when exercising with weights. When performing shoulder exercises always ensure that your feet are firmly planted at shoulder width. To perform this exercise, hold the dumbbells in front of you with your thumbs pointing forward and then raise them just above your shoulder joints with a slight bend in the elbows.

It is common to complete the movement with the palms parallel to the floor. However a stronger contraction is felt in the side deltoids when the thumbs are tipped downwards as though you are pouring water out of a bottle.

Reverse fly

The reverse fly works the posterior deltoids and involves getting into the right position (feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent) and then bend forward at the waist until your back is parallel to the floor and keep your elbows slightly bent with arms towards the floor, palms and dumbbells facing each other. Now raise the dumbbells up and out to the sides, until arms are parallel to the floor at shoulder level.

Back muscles

The latissimus dorsi (large triangular group of muscles in the middle of the back) and rhomboids (between the shoulder blades), the erector spinae (the lower back muscles) and the trapezius muscles (large muscles in the upper and middle back) come together to form the back muscles. Seated rows are great to get your back toned to achieve that much coveted V shape. Similarly, back extensions, band pull aparts and bent-over rows all target the back muscles.

Pull-ups or chin-ups

These target the lats, shoulders and biceps and can be done with different variations and modifications like with wide, narrow and alternated grips, with added weights or it can be done with altered movements like side-to-side movements.

Deadlifts

Sumo deadlifts, conventional deadlifts and rack pulls – all work at stabilizing the torso. It can be done with barbells, trap bars and dumbbells.

Leg muscles

Legs get you from Point A to Point B. They also help amp up your style factor if your thighs are toned and your calves have a rounded shapely appearance. Running, walking, hiking, climbing, cycling and swimming are all activities that strengthen the leg muscles. Sports like football, tennis and basketball are also great.

Squats and lunges

Squats are the best exercises to tone the upper thighs. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. The basic movement involves bending down into a squatting position so that your knees are at a 90 degree angle and then you can raise yourself up again.

Lunges whether done straight forward or sideways are wonderful for the thighs. The movement is simple yet magical in terms of the results one can achieve.

Stair climbers

You can eschew the elevator and escalator in favour of the stairs at your workplace or apartment, or use the stair climber at your gym. Either which way, over a period of time you can cover greater and higher heights, distance and burn the fat on your legs and buttocks.

Double-leg calf raise

This involves standing against the wall and raising yourself upwards by pressing down in to the balls of your feet. Make sure that your abs are pulled in and that the body doesn’t tilt forward or backward. The intensity of this exercise can be increased by balancing on one leg and keeping the other leg behind you.

Glutes

The gluteus maximus, the large muscle covering the buttocks, is essential to the carrying out of activities like walking, climbing stairs, running and stabilizing the back. The glutes are made of the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. A toned buttock is not just about the aesthetic values. If not exercised the buttox can end up becoming a storehouse for fat and this is very hard to get rid of unless approached with the right combination of exercise and nutrition. Climbing or walking uphill is one of the best workouts for the buttocks. Squats and lunges also work wonders for toning the glutes and strengthening those muscles.

Bridges

The bridge and the one-legged bridge enable the muscles of the glutes work hard. It also brings focus on the core balance and helps stabilize the back.

Step-ups and leg extensions also work well to tone these major muscles that are critical to the functioning of our body.