The Active Habitat

Sculpting Back and Bicep Weightlifting Workout

I always enjoy looking at Youtube videos and Instagram for inspiration and workout ideas. It pushes me to switch up my usual workouts and work on different muscles. Especially for the back and biceps muscles, where there are countless exercise for these muscle groups. However every now and then, I go back to the classic exercises. These are the exercise, if done correct, have sculpted and shape bodies in bodybuilding for years.

Here is a sculpting back and bicep weightlifting workout to add to your workout routine:

1) Wide Grip Lat Pull-down – 2 warm-up sets of 5-8 reps and 3 working sets of 8 repetitions

2) Superset: 4 sets of 8-10 repetitions

Cable Rope Hammer Curl

Close Grip Lat Pull-down

3) Assisted Chin-ups – 3 sets of 10 repetitions

4) Super-set: 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions

Straight Arm Dumbbell Pull-over

Alternating Dumbbell Bicep Curl

5) Seated Cable Row – 2 dropset to failure (start with 3 rep max and keep dropping weight till no longer cable of pulling)

6) Super-set: 3 sets of 10-12 repetitions

Bent Over Barbell Row

Alternating Standing Close-Grip and Wide Grip Barbell Curl

For a full weight loss and workout routine, check out this blog post.

A Dumbbell Upper Body Workout for Beginners

Arm Exercises Back Exercises Chest Exercises Exercises Resistance Training

It can be a struggle for those new to the gym to figure out a workout. Especially one that is easy, but effective. So for those struggling, here is simple dumbbell upper body workout that will give you tone and slim upper body.

These workouts are done as supersets, which means no rest between each exercise in a given workout. After all two or three exercises are completed rest for 30 seconds and move to the next set.

Workout #1: 3 sets of 12-15 sets each exercise.

Workout #2: 4 sets of 10-12 sets each exercise.

Workout #3: 4 sets of 10-12 sets each exercise.

Workout #4: 3 sets of 12-15 sets each exercise.

Workout #5: 3 sets of 12-15 sets each exercise.

Top 5 Back Exercises and Tips

Back Exercises Resistance Training

Back exercises tend to be the muscle group that most individuals have a hard time with. Because it’s a larger muscle group, it is hard to get good muscle-mind connection. Therefore, I wanted to share the top 5 back exercises, and some tips, that will help you at the gym.

1. Lat Pulldown (overall back):
Tips:

Elbows need to travel right by the side of the body, this allows the latissimus dorsi, aka lats, (major back muscle), to take the load.
Squeeze the shoulder blade before pulling down on the bar. This, like in most exercises, help put majority of the stimulus onto the back. As oppose to the shoulder and arms.
Final and best tip, through out the movement, try to visualize pulling the bar apart. This greatly engages the muscle fibers to see better results.

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2. Seated Cable Rows (middle back):
Tips:

Remain sitting straight up during the pull and allow your elbows to travel straight back. This will engage the proper muscle fibers without using momentum to do the work.
Again squeeze the shoulder blade, to allow the middle back to take the stimulus and not the assisting muscles.
Because of the seating position, adding more weight than expected can lead to injury. Best way to add intensity is pausing at the top for 1-2 counts.

Image 1%2B%25285%2529 - Top 5 Back Exercises and Tips

3. Straight Arm Pulldown (overall back):
Tips:

This exercise is an isolated exercise, in that it doesn’t recruit other muscle to assist in the movement. Which is a great exercise to target only the back and doesn’t require a lot of weight. Try 10-15lbs to start.
This exercise is dictated by the body angle and how far back you stand. Best angle to be at is the 45 degree mark to allow the greatest span engagement.
Once again, squeeze the shoulder blade before making any movement.

4. Hyperextension (lower back):
Tips:

Building a stronger lower back is essential to stabilized the torso. Therefore, keep the back flat and core tight at all times. Never arch or round the back, which may lead to injury.
There is no need for heavy or any weight at all. To get the most out of the exercise, perform a slow controlled movement, and squeeze at the top for about two seconds. Body-weight alone is enough to get results.
Stay in the tension zone. Do not perform a full 180 with your body. The movement should be from one 45 degree angle to the other.

5. Pull-ups (overall back):
Pull-ups are the ultimate back workout. Not only because it is a compound exercise, aka multi-muscle exercise, but for aesthetics perspective, it builds a nice tapered v-shape. More importantly tho, the movement allows to build functional strength, which mean it helps with every-day task. I have a whole blog post on tips and tricks here.

A Toning Upper Body Workout

Arm Exercises Back Exercises Chest Exercises Exercises Resistance Training Shoulder Exercises

Our workouts these days consist of 4 days of resistant training. Either a lower body or upper body workout. We wanted to share our upper body workout to build muscle while shedding weight. Because the focus is losing weight, we increased reps and added super-sets (exercise done back to back with minimal rest) to keep our heart rate up.

Also something new we have been trying is to start each workout with compound exercises (an exercise that uses multiple muscle groups) and then follow-up with super-sets.

Dumbbell Bench Press: 2 warm-up sets, 5 set for 10-12 reps

Smith Machine Overhead Press: 2 warm-up sets, 5 set for 10-12 reps

Super-set #1: Bent Over Barbell Rows: 4 sets for 12-15 reps
Reverse Dumbbell Flyes: 4 sets for 12-15 reps

Super-set #2: Wide Grip Lat Pulldown: 4 sets for 10-12 reps
Bicep Curls: 4 sets for 8 reps bicep curls & 8 reps hammer curls

Super-set #3: Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise: 4 sets for 10-12 rep
Triceps Push-downs with Rope: 4 sets for 12-15 reps

Finisher Super-set: Dips (Assisted or Unassisted) 3 sets to failure
Pull-ups (Assisted or Unassisted) 3 sets to failure

Here is a sculpting back and bicep weightlifting workout to add to your workout routine:

It can be a struggle for those new to the gym to figure out a workout. Especially one that is easy, but effective. So for those struggling, here is simple dumbbell upper body workout that will give you tone and slim upper body.

Back exercises tend to be the muscle group that most individuals have a hard time with. Because it’s a larger muscle group, it is hard to get good muscle-mind connection. Therefore, I wanted to share the top 5 back exercises, and some tips, that will help you at the gym.

1. Lat Pulldown (overall back): Tips:

2. Seated Cable Rows (middle back): Tips:

3. Straight Arm Pulldown (overall back): Tips:

4. Hyperextension (lower back): Tips:

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1. Lat Pulldown (overall back):
Tips:

2. Seated Cable Rows (middle back):
Tips:

3. Straight Arm Pulldown (overall back):
Tips:

4. Hyperextension (lower back):
Tips: