# Dumbell workouts **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161 "2001-10-28T21:52:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/1 "2001-10-28T21:52:18Z")
I work nights and sometimes have a lot of slack periods so I bought a set of 10 pound dumbells to do some exercising. Although I don’t have a bench, I’d like to do some different reps to replace some of the flab on my arms due to recent weight loss. Do any of you have any routines you’d like to share with me? A web-site with illustrations would be great! Thank you Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Ikujinashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ikujinashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ikujinashi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/2 "2001-10-28T22:38:38Z")
[This](http://www.bedwellgroup.com/Body/IllusGuide.htm) site has images and brief descriptions of a bunch of different exercises, including quite a few dumbell exercises. I think you’ll probably find that 10 lbs. just isn’t enough weight for some exercises, you’ll probably get bored of doing reps before your arms get tired. Another heavier set of dumbells will add more variety to your exercises. Good for the 10lbs.: Curls for biceps. With this weight you really want to isolate the bicep, it’s really tempting to assist with your shoulders. Try: one arm at a time, sitting down and leaning forward, brace your elbow with the weight against your knee, then do a curl. Hold your leg still, and don’t move your back. Kickbacks for triceps. They show this on the site. Lateral raises for shoulders. Also on the site. 1 arm dumbell rows for back. Also on the site. You’ll probably want heavier dumbells for the curls and dumbell rows. With a heavier weight you can also try ‘overhead tricep extensions.’ Sitting down, hold the dumbell by one end in both hands directly over your head with arms straight. Keeping your upper arms still (only bend the elbows), lower the weight till it’s behind your head, then raise it above your head again. If you can come up with something approximating a bench flyes (shown on the site) are pretty good for chest. I guess those aren’t really routines, just some different exercises to try out. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/3 "2001-10-28T22:54:37Z")
[http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html](http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html) That’s one of the best exercise sites I’ve found. The exercise/body maps are great. ---
**Author:** ![BoiToi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@BoiToi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoiToi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/4 "2001-10-29T01:56:09Z")
Gender? For a gal 10 lbs. might work, though I think that’s too light. For an average guy that’s probably way too light. I’m not a big guy so I’ll max out at about 30 lbs. on dumbells. That’s why I used to like machines, could control them better. But I like dumbells now. Been using them for about 8 months. For biceps, curls from a standing position are effective. For triceps, I’ve seen people do that one exercise where you kneel one leg on a chair or bench, bend forward (body parallel to the floor), hold your upper arm parallel to the floor and extend the lower arm back so that the arm is straight against the side. Then there’s that one exercise where you raise you elbows to the ceiling and hold the weight behind your head. Then you straighten your arms up to the ceiling. Push-ups also good for your triceps as long as you can focus on them during the execise. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/5 "2001-10-29T06:15:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BoiToi \* > **For biceps, curls from a standing position are effective.** Almost any bicep curl is effective as long as your elbow isn’t moving forwards or backwards during the movement. That allows momentum and deltoids to move the mass. There are many bicep exercizes that all have a slightly different effect. Concentration curls (what Ikujinashi described), hammer curls(palms pointing at body), generic curls (palms up), inclined curls, etc. Try them all, see what works for you. > [@](#): > > \*\* > For triceps, I’ve seen people do that one exercise where you kneel one leg on a chair or bench, bend forward (body parallel to the floor), hold your upper arm parallel to the floor and extend the lower arm back so that the arm is straight against the side.\*\* Tricep kickback. This is a good finisher for… > [@](#): > > \*\* > Then there’s that one exercise where you raise you elbows to the ceiling and hold the weight behind your head. Then you straighten your arms up to the ceiling.\*\* … tricep extensions. These two make an excellent combination, you just have to learn to focus the exercise so it hits the intended muscle. Technique, in other words. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Push-ups also good for your triceps as long as you can focus on them during the execise. \*\* Narrow-grip pushups nail the triceps (forming a triangle with your thumbs and index fingers), wide-grip hit your pecs and biceps. Though I have to say that if you’re trying to add enough arm bulk to fill the now flabby void, you’ll need a lot of workouts and a lot more than ten pounds. I’d suggest getting a dumbell bar and free weights, which you can add and remove however you see fit. I doubt that your muscles are _all_ going to respond to ten pound weights. I’d imagine that your biceps and triceps will be much stronger than your deltoids, which will probably be weak enough to get a serious workout from ten pounds. You’re going to need more than ten pounds pretty quickly. Also, something you should try to do is get a feel for “the pump”. It’s a term bodybuilders use, describing a feeling they get at the point where they know their workout is… well, working. Essentially, it feels like your muscles are so engorged that they feel awkward to move, wooden. Not exhausted, which they’ll feel if you lift to failure (when you simply can’t lift any more), but pumped full of blood. Bigger. You’ll come to identify it and monitoring it will prove important. If you’re not feeling a pump, then you have to work harder on that particular muscle. Maybe change your exercize to something completely different. Also, back exercizes, like rowing, are really difficult to get right. Try to pinch your shoulder blades together is the basic rule, though do whatever you can to feel the burn in your back and not your arms. I would suggest: Getting a dumbell bar and free weights. (make sure you always warm-up the muscles first. _Always._ Yes, this is for safety, but your muscles will grow much more rapidly if warmed-up and stretched before and after a workout.) Do as many push-ups as you can in one set. If you can do a lot, try weighted pushups. If you end up getting free-weights, do dumbell flyes and presses. At this point, you’ll have given your chest and arms a pretty damn good workout. Not a killer workout, but a good one. For a killer workout, throw in bicep curls, tricep extensions/kickbacks, and shoulder raises. Finish with dumbell rows. Wind down with hyperextensions (lie face down on the floor, hands behind your head. Lift your chest and your feet off the floor by contracting the small of your back – great for posture) and ab exercises (descriptions for these can be found anywhere online). For a truly killer workout, lift to failure on every exercize. If you can figure out a setup to let you do pull-ups, do these as the first exercize after the warm-up. Pullups are one of the key basic upper-body exercizes, benchpress/pushups being the other one. Two notes: 1. Depending on how you lost your weight, there’s a chance that up to 30% of what you lost was muscle. If you lost it through diet, aerobic exercise, or any combination of the two without anaerobic exercise, then that’s probably what happened. The bad news is you probably never lost as much fat as you thought you did. The good news is that muscle is easier to recover than it is to build for the first time. Depending on how much muscle you (hypothetically) lost, your arms can look more muscular in no time. 2. If you do end up getting free weights, _email me_ before you do anything I recommended. As it stands, what I gave you is a very simplistic, almost haphazardly so, idea of what a good workout for a beginner is, but I did so knowing that you didn’t have the equipment (free weights) to really carry this out. _If you do end up getting free weights_ you are going to need an entirely different presentation of the exercizes to get you through the workout safely and effectively. Give me a shout if you have any questions. P.S. What _is_ your gender? Ten pound weights will prove slightly more usefull to a girl than a guy, so if you’re an athletically average woman you might be able to start working with these and still see results. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/6 "2001-10-29T06:50:42Z")
:o and I _would_ have gotten heavier than 10 pound 'bells, but that’s all they had at K-Mart. And I know what y’all mean when you tell me that the ten pounds aren’t enough of a workout, so until I get heavier bells I am doing 3 sets of 20. Also, remember I’m at work when I’m doing this, and I’m usually in my office chair. The nature of my job is such that I can get a stat call at any time, so I have to limit myself to working the upper body with the dumbells. A _little_ sweat is okay, but I would not want to drip all over my patients. 😉 I alternate biking and walking after I get off in the mornings so I’m not too worried about the lower parts, but since the weight loss I have a lot of flab where the fat (or muscle) used to be, and I just want to tighten those areas up. I _will_ get some dumbell bars as you suggested, and increase the weight. I have to say, however, that even at just ten pounds I am feeling the “burn”. (Guess that just proves how out of shape the upper body is, huh?). My thanks for the very detailed answers and the cautions you mentioned. I appreciate you taking the time! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![BoiToi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@BoiToi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoiToi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/7 "2001-10-29T06:57:12Z")
I’m going to lose my gym membership after I get laid off. And then I won’t have access to a workout center after I sell my condo. Any recommendations on exercises that don’t require weights at all? Will variations on push-ups and chin ups help maintain upper-body muscle tone? ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/8 "2001-10-29T07:19:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BoiToi \* > \*\*I’m going to lose my gym membership after I get laid off. And then I won’t have access to a workout center after I sell my condo. Any recommendations on exercises that don’t require weights at all? Will variations on push-ups and chin ups help maintain upper-body muscle tone? \*\* I’m reposting a very long response I posted a long time to GQ. Take from it what you will, the first half focuses on diet, the second focuses on what you can do without weights. I ended up getting into an argument with some knob and neither of us could settle it properly, so I deleted the controversial part. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anal Scurvy \* > \*\*Okay, I’m training hard for a martial arts tournament (that might count as my first professional fight – I don’t know if I’ll get paid or not) and I’ll give you the best information from my experience. > > Right now I’m on an acid/alkaline (or neutral) diet. I can only eat 20% of my diet from the first section and 80% of my diet from the second two. > > This is what I can eat: > > \*\* > PROTEIN FOODS (ACID FORMING FOODS) > Acceptable: > doffee (decaffinated) > beans/peas (dried) > beef > eggs > fish > lamb > lentils > poultry > prunes (cooked) > rice (white) > tea (breen or herb) > veal > whole grains > yogurt (natural) > \*\* > > - > > Not Recommended: > bread or flour products > buttermilk > cheese > coffee > deli meats (processed) > liver > milk > nuts (except almonds) > pork/ham > seafood (shell fish) > tea (black) > ketchup/mustard/relish > mayonaisse/salad dressings > \* > > \*\* > STARCH FOODS (ALKALINE FORMING FOODS) > Acceptable: > almonds > millet or buckwheat > apples > apricots > berries > cherries > peaches/pears/plums > popcorn (regular) > potatoes (baked) > pumpkin/squash > rice (brown) > tomatoes (fresh) > \*\* > > - > > Not Recommended: > sugar (white or brown) > cottage cheese > bananas > cantaloupe/melons > currants/raisins > dates and figs > fruite juice > flour (white) > grapes > honey/maple syrup/jam/jellies > molasses > pasta (i.e. macaroni, spaghetti) > pineapple > soups (creamed) > tropical fruits > cakes/candies/ice cream > cereals (processed) > gravies > pop/sodas > pies/pastries > \* > > \*\* > BULK FORMING FOODS (NEUTRAL) > Acceptable: > garlic > onions/chives > artichokes > asparagus > beets or beet tops > broccoli > brussel sprouts > butter > cabbage > carrots > cauliflower > celery > collard/mustard greens > corn > cucumbers > dandelion > egg plant > ednive > escarole > green beans/green peas > green/red peppers > kale > kohlrabi > lettuce > herb spices > okra > olive oil > parsley > parsnips > peppermint > radiccio > radishes > rutabagas/turnips > sorrel > spinach > \*\* > > Following this diet will do about half the work, the other half can be done by visiting a herbalist and asking for something to clear you of toxins. > > \*\* > To reduce fat, follow the diet, but excersize as well. Here are some aerobic excersizes I’d recommend that can be done anywhere and with no supplies (these can even be done barefoot): \*\* > > skipping > > running on the spot (try to bring your knees higher than your waist each time) > > lunges (you’re lower than you are standing, one leg is bent at the knee, try to put your foot a little in front of your spine’s vertical line and the other is behind you, straight, your toes braced on the floor. Try to distribute your weight onto the two legs. It doesn’t have to be 50/50, but make sure one leg doesn’t support all your weight. Then, jump into the air and land in the same position, legs reversed. Will help your balance and coordination as well) > > jumping jacks > > When doing these excersizes, always remain on your toes. The benefit of this, besides strengthening your calves, is that you greatly reduce (eliminate entirely, if your calves are strong enough) the impact in what are predominately high-impact excercizes. Your heels should never strike the ground. > > Do all of these. Don’t just do one excersize for fifteen minutes, because you probably won’t be able to. What’s important is not that you slog through an excersize, it’s that you keep your heart rate near 30 beats per every 10 seconds. The best thing to do is perform the excercize for as long as you can before you begin to get sloppy, then go onto the next one. By cycling like this, you will be able to work the entire twenty or thirty minutes without fatiguing a particular body part. Also, you can make note of the more difficult activities and return to them, strengthening the areas than need it. > > These can be done anywhere, with no purchases needed. Don’t do them after you wake up or you’ll injure your back. If your calves are strong enough, you can do all of these absolutely silently and can watch television while you do them. This makes the time fly. > > **Muscle building exercizes that can be done anywhere:** > > I don’t know how well you do pushups. Skinny people are naturally better at the following exercizes than I am. When I’m at five percent body fat, I tip the scales at 200 pounds. > > widegrip pushups: these are pushups with your arms considerably wider than shoulder width apart. Not so wide that you can’t do the exercize, but wide enough for you to feel it across you chest and biceps. > > pushups: these are pushups shoulder width apart. This is a nice workout for all the muscle groups involved. > > closegrip pushups: form a triangle on the floor with your thumbs and your index fingers. These will work your triceps. > > dips: these can be done from a sitting position between two chairs or, if you’re strong enough, standing between two cupboards. Basically, the purpose of this is to raise and lower your body weight using your triceps. Your elbows have to be behind you to work the triceps. If they’re out to the side you’ll be working your pecs. If your back isn’t perpendicular to the floor you’ll be causing undue stress to your shoulder joints. When you’re fully lowered, your elbows should not be higher than your shoulders. > > I don’t think I can give an adequate description of this because you might not be at all familiar with this exercize. Email me privately and I’ll send you urls for dip instructions > > chinese pushups: these are if your shoulders are strong enough, otherwise you’ll break your head. Put yourself in a handstand position with your legs braced against the wall. Raise and lower yourself using your arms, leaning against the wall to stay vertical > > jump squats: start in a squat position on the floor, back straight, legs shoulder width apart. Now jump as high into the air as you can and tuck your legs into your shoulders. Land _gently_ back in the squat position. Repeat. > > double ups: this is a skipping exercize that is a beautiful finisher after jump squats. Skip in your regular manner, just try to get the rope to pass under you twice in succession before you land. One is pretty easy. Five are tiring. Ten is impossible. > > If you have access to a gym, then all the power to you. I suspect you don’t, so these are simple exercizes that can be done anywhere, you just need the will. > > \*\* Important Notes: \*\* > > -to lose weight, you need aerobic exersize. Try to keep your heartbeat at around 30bpm for every 10 secs. Make sure you’re not counting the same heartbeat twice, it’s tricky but possible. > > -while aerobic exercize is the primary factor in burning fat, the amount of fat you burn is directly proportional to the amount of muscle you have. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. > > -when doing the anaerobic (muscle-building) exercizes above, break them into ten sets of ten. I.e. pushups - do ten pushups ten times, with thirty second breaks in between. Ten pushups. Rest. Ten pushups. Rest. etc. etc. Record your progress each time. You will probably not be able to do ten sets of ten immediately for all the exercizes. > > -try not to do anaerobic excersizes for more than forty-five minutes at a time. There are studies that suggest at this point your body releases a chemical that retards your muscle breakdown (which, in turn, retards your muscle growth. Bodybuilding is comparable to working with your immune system. When you lift weights, you are actually destroying muscle. Your body doesn’t like this and tries to prevent it by increasing the strength and size of the muscle. You have to do a little more work to destroy the muscle again. It rebuilds, you destroy. On and on until you’re a very strong or durable individual.) so exercize becomes inefficent. > > -some exercizes are best used in conjunction with others. I.e. double ups won’t build much muscle unless the muscles are already torn down with jump squats. Dips are the best way to attack the triceps, but if you don’t have anything to brace yourself on then closegrip pushups are the next best thing. If you can do both, do dips then closegrips. If you can’t do dips, then just concentrate on closegrips. > > -the ideal pushup (and benchpress) position is with your hands by your nipples, not shoulders. Up too high and they wear the shoulder socket. The downside is that they’re more difficult by your nipples, and even make your lats (in your back) work. It all depends on how much you want to work. > > -always stretch the muscle group before you work it, whether aerobically or anaerobically. As well as preventing injuries, stretching before, during, and after helps promote muscular growth. The thirty second rest between sets can be spend stretching the muscle you’re using. > > -do warm up sets. For each excersize, try to do a warmup set to get your muscles working. For pushups, rattle off ten or twenty pushups on your knees. For jump squats, just do about twenty ordinary squats. All the other exersizes I mentioned (dips, chinese pushups) will not need to be preceded by warmups because all the muscles targeted will have already been worked in the pushup sets. They will be warm. > > -drink lots of water. Stack up on carbs before a workout and protein after, while staying within the boundaries of the diet. You can also stack up on protein when you wake up in the mornings, your body can handle it. Do not eat before you go to bed. > > -do not overtrain your muscles. If you can’t hack twenty or thirty minutes of aerobic work per day, don’t push yourself. By not letting your muscles recover, you’re losing them. This is especially true for anaerobic exercizes. Give yourself _at least_ one day to recover before you do the muscle-building exercizes again. I would recommend three days. When I’m lifting weights, I never attack the same muscle more than twice a week. Usually I give myself three or four days recovery time. > > -I didn’t list any ab exercizes, mainly because my abs are the naturally strongest muscles in my body. I almost never exercise them and can rattle off three hundred twisting situps at any time. I can take shots from the biggest guys in the gym and not feel a thing. It’s just a natural advantage I have. They are, however, the post important muscles in the entire body. They stabalize your upper body and your lower body. Basically, do situps (as full as you can without straining your back) until failure. Rest for a minute, then work to failure again. Rest a minute, and work to failure again. Three sets should be plenty. These are simple endurance activities. If you really want to blast your abs for strength as well as endurance, let me know. > > -in addition to situps, do hyperextensions. These correct your posture and secure your back. Lieon your stomach, hands behind your head. And contract your lower back. You should raise your head and your feet off the ground. Work these, three sets, until failure. ALSO A VERY IMPORTANT MUSCLE GROUP. > > If you have any questions, feel free to email me. [Nunavik\_Shroud@hotmail.com](mailto:Nunavik_Shroud@hotmail.com) \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/9 "2001-10-29T07:44:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quasimodem \* > \*\*:o and I _would_ have gotten heavier than 10 pound 'bells, but that’s all they had at K-Mart. And I know what y’all mean when you tell me that the ten pounds aren’t enough of a workout, so until I get heavier bells I am doing 3 sets of 20. > > Also, remember I’m at work when I’m doing this, and I’m usually in my office chair. The nature of my job is such that I can get a stat call at any time, so I have to limit myself to working the upper body with the dumbells. A _little_ sweat is okay, but I would not want to drip all over my patients. 😉 > > I alternate biking and walking after I get off in the mornings so I’m not too worried about the lower parts, but since the weight loss I have a lot of flab where the fat (or muscle) used to be, and I just want to tighten those areas up. > > I _will_ get some dumbell bars as you suggested, and increase the weight. I have to say, however, that even at just ten pounds I am feeling the “burn”. (Guess that just proves how out of shape the upper body is, huh?). > > My thanks for the very detailed answers and the cautions you mentioned. I appreciate you taking the time! > > Quasi \*\* Alright, this is what I would suggest for you: Pushups, work until near failure. Working to failure will get you all sweaty, but don’t let the amount of sweat dictate your workout. I’m not sure how logical I am at one thirty in the morning, but try to follow me. Instead of working until failure and getting all sweaty, work until near failure two or three times (just getting a little sweaty each time - you’ll be doing more work with less sweat). Alternate between close-grip pushups, wide-grip pushups, and normal pushups so you focus on all the muscle groups at least once. Once you’ve done a nice job of destroying your muscles with pushups, do bicep curls, four or five sets, going until near failure. Then do triceps extensions, three-five sets, and tricep kickbacks, two-three sets. Again, near failure. (an optional tricep workout is dips. Sit on your butt, legs extended in front of you, in front of your chair. Put your hands on the chairseat and hoist yourself into the air, keeping your arms behind you instead of out to the sides. Your elbow should never go higher than your shoulders at your lowest point. If you use this, use it as a replacement for tricep extensions.) Do lateral raises for your shoulders. Don’t lift the dumbells higher than your ears. In all the exercizes, and especially this one, use slow, controlled methods. Jerking and quick movements when you’re a beginner tend to equal cheating. Actually, this is a good place to throw it in. A good rule of lifting is either 2-1-4 or 2-4. What this means is contract for two seconds, pause at the uppermost point for one second (the second rhythm has no pause), then lower the weight in such a fashion that it takes four seconds. To use the example of the bicep curl, curl it up at such a speed that it takes two seconds. Holding for one second when the weight is near your shoulder (do not curl your wrist towards your shoulder, this takes the strain off your bicep so keep your wrist straight) is optional. You’ll do more work if you don’t hold, but that second pause will let you lift more. You’ll decide for yourself which one promotes more grown in you. Then slowly, and very controlled, lower the dumbell at such a speed that it takes four seconds. Using this rhythm will make the exerisizes much more difficult because it eliminates a great deal of cheating. After the lateral raises, do a military press. It’s kind of like a benchpress, except you lift the dumbell over your head instead of away from your chest. Normally the lateral raises would be a finisher for the military press, instead of the other way around, but you might find that your weights might not be effective in the military press unless you’ve already torn down your muscles. Dumbell rows may or may not work for you. If they do, it’s because you’ve found some way to join the two weights together or because you’re doing hundreds of reps at a time. The important thing here is to keep the back straight and to go through the motions of pinching your back muscles together. This is definitely a back exercize, even though you’ll feel it in your arms, and you should make sure you don’t lose that focus and turn it into an arm workout. If you want, you can also do some wrist curls and use the weights to work on your grip. I’m suddenly very tired, so I won’t describe either of these. If you have any questions, ask. And I’ll probably add to this suggested workout because I’m tired and I’m sure I forgot something really obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2001, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbell-workouts/90161/10 "2001-10-29T07:56:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BoiToi \* > \*\*Will variations on push-ups and chin ups help maintain upper-body muscle tone? \*\* I just realized that pullups weren’t on my long list (at least, I don’t think they were). Pushups and pullups are pretty much the two sides of the coin. Between them, you’ve got all the muscles in upper body and can look really damn healthy doing nothing but. Pushups will work your chest, biceps, and triceps while pullups will work your biceps and back (primarily the back once your biceps are strong enough to do the work necessary without wearing away). To build strength instead of endurance, keep making things difficult whenever you can. Aim for twelve-fifteen reps per set. If you’re pumping out a lot more than that and you want to build strength, try doing things like weighting yourself down. And you can also look into German Volume Lifting. It’s a technique that involves _lifting until you die._ Very effective. What it basically involves is you lifting ten sets of ten reps with a ninety second pause between sets, until you are actually able to do 10 sets of 10. It’s as hard as hell and I highly recommend that you try this workout at least once. Use the ten sets/ten reps for the broad workouts like the pushups, pullups, and jump squats; use six sets/ten reps for concentric exercizes like dips. Always do concentric exercizes first. Damn, now to go to sleep.