Geaux Health & Fitness Magazine Spring 2014 2 | Page 11

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Standing Dumbbell Curls
What muscles does the exercise impact? Biceps
What are the steps? Hang the dumbbells at arm’s length in front of your hips with your palms
facing forward. Keep your feet hip width apart, brace your core, and keep your shoulders back.
Maintain a firm grip with straight wrists and lift the weight at the elbow until the biceps
are pressed against the forearms. Slowly lower the weight back to the top of your thighs and
repeat. The elbows should not swing behind the body and avoid using momentum to bring the
weight to shoulder height.

Standing Dumbbell Kickbacks
What muscles does the exercise impact? Triceps
What are the steps? Hang the dumbbells at your side to start. Place your weight into your heels, bend your
knees slightly, now push your hips back and tilt forward bringing your torso parallel to the floor or slightly
angled above parallel if it is more comfortable. Keep your back straight, naturally arch your lower back,
and align your neck with your back. Now lift your arms so the biceps are parallel to the floor alongside your
body with the elbow bent at 90 degrees. This should leave the dumbbells hanging towards the floor in a firm grip. Without
moving the upper half of your arms, raise your forearms until your arms are completely straight, locking the elbows in place at the
top of the repetition. Squeeze the muscles at the top of the repetition and slowly reverse the dumbbells to bring the elbows back to 90
degrees and repeat.
Dumbbell Crunches
What muscles does the exercise impact? Abdominals
What are the steps? Choose a light weight set of dumbbells for this exercise. Lie
down on the floor with your knees bent, and your feet planted flat on the ground or
elevated with the knees above your hips. Brace your abs so you feel your lower back
press against the floor beneath you. Hold the dumbbells with arms bent at the elbow
and weight rested against your chest. Do not use momentum and do not allow your feet
to leave the floor. If your legs are elevated keep the tops of your legs parallel to the floor.
Using your abs lift your shoulder blades off the floor and slide your rib cage towards your
hips. The dumbbells act as added resistance to the crunch rested on your chest. Once you reach your
maximum height tuck your chin and push your chest against the top of your abdominals to slowly
bring yourself back to the floor. The spine should return to the floor one vertebrate at a time until
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