Mar 2015 Challenge ~ Mar 23rd - Mar 29th
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cpanus
Posts: 19,435 Member
Just in Time For Spring: 21-Day Arm-Sculpting Challenge
Week 2
Getting started: The challenge consists of five basic exercises that help to target all the areas of your arms. Over the course of the challenge, you will increase the number of reps you're doing of each exercise, eventually working up to three sets of 15 reps for each exercise.
Below is an explanation of how to do each of the five exercises, followed by the plan itself.
Choosing the appropriate size weight is key here — you want one that fatigues your muscles by the end of the three sets. If the challenge ever feels too easy, that's your cue to increase the weight of the dumbbells (and if you find you are fatiguing too early, decrease the weight amount). Beginners should start the plan with five-pound weights, and for you more-experienced lifters, make this challenge work for you by grabbing a heavier set.
Bicep Curl
• Start by holding a dumbbell in each hand at the sides of the body.
• Keeping your elbows close to your side, slowly raise the dumbbells to the chest.
• Moving with control, lower back to the starting position.
• This counts as one rep.
Upright Row
• Place a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body, shoulders over the pelvis, and a slight bend in the knees.
• Keeping the dumbbells close to your body, raise them to your shoulders, bending your elbows out to the sides. Slowly lower them to the starting position.
• This counts as one rep.
Triceps Kickback
• Holding a dumbbell in each hand, hinge forward from your hips, bending the knees slightly. Bend your elbows behind you.
• Straighten your arms behind you with your palms facing in. Your arms should be parallel to the floor. Squeeze your triceps, and then return to the starting position.
• This counts as one rep.
Overhead Shoulder Press
• Hold a dumbbell in each hand just above the shoulders, palms facing in.
• Straighten the arms above you.
• Bend the elbows coming back to the starting position to complete one rep.
Bent-Over Reverse Fly
• Holding a dumbbell in each hand with your closed palms facing out, stand with the knees slightly bent. Keeping your back flat, bend forward at the hip joint.
• Lift both arms to the sides, maintaining a slight bend in the elbows, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then, with control, lower the dumbbells back together.
• This completes one rep.
Week 2 of our 3-Week Plan
Choose an appropriate size dumbbell (three to eight pounds) and follow the plan below. Every other day is a rest day to give your muscles a chance to rebuild and become stronger.
Day 8 Rest
Day 9 12 reps of each (3x)
Day 10 Rest
Day 11 12 reps of each (3x)
Day 12 Rest
Day 13 14 reps of each (3x)
Day 14 Rest
Let us know how you are doing. Have FUN!!!
Chris
Week 2
Getting started: The challenge consists of five basic exercises that help to target all the areas of your arms. Over the course of the challenge, you will increase the number of reps you're doing of each exercise, eventually working up to three sets of 15 reps for each exercise.
Below is an explanation of how to do each of the five exercises, followed by the plan itself.
Choosing the appropriate size weight is key here — you want one that fatigues your muscles by the end of the three sets. If the challenge ever feels too easy, that's your cue to increase the weight of the dumbbells (and if you find you are fatiguing too early, decrease the weight amount). Beginners should start the plan with five-pound weights, and for you more-experienced lifters, make this challenge work for you by grabbing a heavier set.
Bicep Curl
• Start by holding a dumbbell in each hand at the sides of the body.
• Keeping your elbows close to your side, slowly raise the dumbbells to the chest.
• Moving with control, lower back to the starting position.
• This counts as one rep.
Upright Row
• Place a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing your body, shoulders over the pelvis, and a slight bend in the knees.
• Keeping the dumbbells close to your body, raise them to your shoulders, bending your elbows out to the sides. Slowly lower them to the starting position.
• This counts as one rep.
Triceps Kickback
• Holding a dumbbell in each hand, hinge forward from your hips, bending the knees slightly. Bend your elbows behind you.
• Straighten your arms behind you with your palms facing in. Your arms should be parallel to the floor. Squeeze your triceps, and then return to the starting position.
• This counts as one rep.
Overhead Shoulder Press
• Hold a dumbbell in each hand just above the shoulders, palms facing in.
• Straighten the arms above you.
• Bend the elbows coming back to the starting position to complete one rep.
Bent-Over Reverse Fly
• Holding a dumbbell in each hand with your closed palms facing out, stand with the knees slightly bent. Keeping your back flat, bend forward at the hip joint.
• Lift both arms to the sides, maintaining a slight bend in the elbows, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Then, with control, lower the dumbbells back together.
• This completes one rep.
Week 2 of our 3-Week Plan
Choose an appropriate size dumbbell (three to eight pounds) and follow the plan below. Every other day is a rest day to give your muscles a chance to rebuild and become stronger.
Day 8 Rest
Day 9 12 reps of each (3x)
Day 10 Rest
Day 11 12 reps of each (3x)
Day 12 Rest
Day 13 14 reps of each (3x)
Day 14 Rest
Let us know how you are doing. Have FUN!!!
Chris
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Replies
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For a moment there, I thought the instructions were:
"choose an appropriate size dumbbell and follow the pain below"
Sometimes my dyslexia is a little freudian... :laugh:0 -
bwahahah! And I love your motivation fairy!0
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Gym tonight. We should cover most of our workout. No walking...rubbed my toe raw!!
One down...four to go. Doing all the grunt-ty work (I made that up!) at work so my replacement can have all the big stuff. ZZzzzzzzz.
Hope you all had a grand Monday!
Chris0 -
challenges done x3. I still choose 3 weights. Start out with a low weight, 5 pounds. Then went up to 12-20 pounds. Still working back up.
Chris I hope your toe gets better quickly. Love the workout again. Almost done, and ready to start a new chapter of your life. 
Paula I also love your fairy.
Shelley0 -
Okay, I'm going to do the workout now, and then to bed. I don't have to do too much to be exhausted nowadays.
Chris, you weren't supposed to tiptoe your toesies raw! Poor piggies!
Shelley, love you!
G'night! :yawn:
Paula0 -
Rest day Monday. Headed to the office early Tuesday, tennis practice after & challenge will be completed late this evening. Match makeup day on Thursday evening after work...that should be interesting.
Paula - love the Fairy...too cute!
Chris - rest those toes.
Shelley - 12-20lb weights...I am a wimp.
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Hi! busy doing wedding stuff this am and now I have to go to work. So will have to go the gym tomorrow as I have the day off. Yay!0
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Two down...three to go! Well...tomorrow is a full day...Thursday I get off at 10:00...Friday we leave for lunch at 11:30...don't know if I'll go back to work or not.
I must have been sitting all wonky today because my left knee is really bothering me. I'm taking a full REST DAY today. This is just weird. I don't think it was my shoes. I've worn them before and without any problem. I'll ice it and see what happens.
I hope you all had a great Tuesday and that Wednesday is just as terrific!!!
Chris0 -
Kathy you are not a wimp. Tennis is not a wimps sport. Wealth is Health. Love it, it is so true.
Clara wedding day stuff is tough to do!
Chris that is awesome! I think you should finish the day cleaning out your stuff and saying tata! I hope your knee feels better. Mine has been bothering me for a week. Same left knee.
I had class all day. I had to complete a 8 hour recertification for my EMR. Then I weeded the algae in my tank for an hour. Still getting better slowly. Up to .9 ml of 80 proof vodka in the aquarium. Then dis our challenge and some burpees.
Shelley
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Tennis practice this evening for 90 minutes.
I was feeling great until I tried on a dress that I ordered last week. The good news is I ordered an XL and it was way too big. I can definitely now wear a large. But I'm really hating the way I look in clothes right now. I'm afraid I'm not going to like anything I put on...really hating shopping...me hate shopping??? Crazy
I have to buy some new things for my trip in May and I'm terrified I'm not going to find anything that looks good on me. I've really got to tone up more...flabby arms.
I m going to return the dress and get the smaller size and see if it looks better.
Okay, I'm through whining...
Good night.
Kathy
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Chris, Do you think you may have been compensating for your sore toe and messed up your posture? I think you should take a sick day from work to recuperate!
Clara, Hope you are enjoying the wedding preparations. Amazing amount of flurry, isn't it!
Shelley, Still cracks me up that your fishies are into vodka! Hee hee!! Your animal buddies are so lucky! Hope your knee feels better soon! Maybe you and Chris are having sympathetic knee pain for me? (except mine's on the right)
Karen, Hope you find some wonderful cute outfits soon - and in a smaller size! Otherwise you will have to wear your cute tennis outfits!
Today is a challenge rest day for me. But had my first day of physical therapy. It wasn't too hard and didn't hurt as much as I expected. But it hurt constantly at my limit the whole time and the stress exhausted me!
Hope we all feel better soon!
Paula0 -
Karen, Hope you find some wonderful cute outfits soon - and in a smaller size! Otherwise you will have to wear your cute tennis outfits!
Egads, KATHY, why did I call you Karen???!!! (sorry!)
My brain most days =
- - - My brain on pain meds = :noway:
Got a pointer finger mixed in with the lettuce I was chopping. Fortunately, not deep enough to bleed. But this is why I am NOT using power tools to cut a hole in a tennis ball to fit my walker! :noway:
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Paula you're fine...happens all the time because of the profile name...KAR. Thanks for the good thoughts. I was just having a small meltdown last night. 0
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Paula, glad to see you're hanging in there.
Kathy, just keep shopping, and you'll find the right things.
Shelly, I missed hearing about your fish and the vodka. I love it too but am cutting back. It's extra calories.0 -
Paula I think it was the shoes. They never bothered me in the past, but I was okay last night and all day today. And...put down the power saw!!!
Kathy I bet you'll find something beautiful to wear and just keep doing our arm exercises.
Shelley good job on the workout, walk and washing of the fish tank!!
Got 5 miles done in 75 minutes then got our arm exercises done. I'm happy. I'm working until 12:00 tomorrow then I can take off right after lunch on Friday!!! two more half days!!! I'm so excited! We get Bean tomorrow. I'm hoping to tale him for a walk. I'll just have to see what happens.
It will be a grand Thursday for everyone!
Chris0 -
Kathy that is wonderfully awful. If there is to much loose skin you should talk to your doctor. Is it a tone issue or to much skin? If it is lack of tone mostly you will fix it. It will take time though. But you know that. Rant away whenever you want. We are here for you. I think I could even get us some vodka.
Chris I am so happy for you. Two wakeups and some walks with Bean. WOOHOO
Paula how is that knee now. Doing ok on the meds?
Clara vodka and the rest do have to many calories. Skip dinner and you can drink less for the same effect.
Got in a walk with the boys. Then went Easter shopping. Stopped at subway for a quick sandwich. There was a truck parked out in front, engine running and a sleeping baby in the back! Suddenly dad came running out and retrieved baby. There were two car seats, I thought there were two little ones at first. I told him I was an officer and he needed to go get the other child. He was rude and said I could go check but that he only had the one. I did check. He was truthful. Rocky and I ordered while he went to pay for his sandwich. His card was declined. He asked where the nearest cash machine was and walked out. Rocky mentioned that he considered paying for the sandwich. I said I had been thinking about it to, took his sandwich and ran outside to give it to him. He apologized for being a jerk. Said he had just gotten off work and picked up the baby. His wife normally picked him up. And he was ordering his sandwich when he suddenly remembered he was in the truck. He was upset with himself. He was remembering about a dad who had left his baby in the vehicle and went to work and the baby died. He said he now sees how it can happen. I actually felt bad for the young first time father. I bet he never forgets him again. Of course I was also glad it was only 50 degrees out and there was a happy ending.
night all, do not be to hard on yourselves.
And how old is the bride to be?
Shelley
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Kathy, Can't wait for you to find some beautiful clothes. Love being part of your support system and want to hug you when you need support. Can you give yourself a hug for me? Seriously. :awesome:
Clara, It is fun to share your daughter's wedding! :drinker:
Chris, Today I had a flash of how bored :yawn: I'd be if there weren't a million things to do. If that feeling sneaks up on you, the route to my house is not bad via Half Moon Bay... hee hee hee
Shelley, What a wonderful heart-warming story. So nice to hear the ones with happy endings. You are a doll! He was so emotionally-distraught, and everything seemed to be going wrong, and then you and Rocky turned it around for him. You resolved the sammich for him; and more importantly, you gave him someone to talk, and let him forgive himself for the way he treated you, and helped reinforce that he is a good father; and that his strong feelings were proof of that. You probably made a huge turnaround in his day, and turned a bad experience into a good one. Such a wonderful gift! I love you.
I tried using 8# dumbells tonight but it was a mistake. Now letting my arms recover before going back to 6# (and 3# for flies and kickbacks).
My physical therapist gets a kick that we do this on line. She's given me another half-hour of easy-but-stressful knee exercises (2-3 sets of 10-15 min/ea). It's like doing something simple (like facing a fear) that isn't physically difficult, but is incredibly draining and exhausting.
I'm not worried about addiction anymore. It's obvious my body does not need the drug, but I have to remember to take them to exercise. The exercises makes my knee throb with pain and takes hours to wear off. Hmmm, vodka....
Paula :flowerforyou:0 -
Challenge completed x3 on Wed...our make-up tennis match is Thurs evening at 6:00.
Thank you all so much for the encouragement and understanding.
Paula - I took your advice and gave myself a hug. I think I'm obsessing just a little so I'm going to put off shopping until the end of the month. Glad your therapy is going well but sorry about the pain. You are a trooper.
Chris - congrats, congrats, congrats!!! 2 wake ups...WOW
Clara - "just keep shopping" words to live by
Shelley - a little Grey Goose & cranberry always works! I definitely need to continue toning...I have to be patient and continue the work. I can relate to your story. It seems every year during the summer we have this issue of kids being left in cars and as you know Georgia's summer weather is so hot the temp inside gets extreme very fast. Unfortunately, we have had the unthinkable happen. Many times it has happened because one parent is not the "normal" one to pick the child up. You did and your husband did good.
Have a great day and I will let you all know how the match goes.
Kathy
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We won! The score was 6-4 & 6-1. So proud of my doubles partner, she played so well. It was a good match and a good win. We got another point for our team. Next match Sunday...I've got to rest the knees and get ready!
Goodnight,
Kathy0 -
Kathy and Paula thank you so much. And Kathy I told a coworker about last night. He said that Wal-Mart has signs on their doors asking if you have your keys, wallet and children! I think places in Georgia should follow that idea. And I thought there was nothing I liked about Wal-Mart!
Congratulations on your win Kathy. That was team work for sure. And hugs from Paula cures all that ails you. Hugs!
Paula I loved the way you summed up the fathers day. Hey your physical therapist could join us. We could teach him a thing or two, about friendships and hugs. I am glad you are not worrying about addiction anymore. What a great relief for you.
Chris, a wakeup and lunch! WOOHOO, what a great feeling. Hey sleep in until 6:00 all next week.
Well I went to Petco. I had to rescue this scooter blenny they had. Poor guy has been there for a couple of months just wasting away. It is really emaciated. Wish him luck to a full recovery. Got to go fill the brine shrimp hatching dish with eggs for all my brine shrimp eaters. The new guy eats them also. Scooter Blennys are so fun to watch. I found out last week that he can live with my Mandarins. I thought they would fight.
night all,
Shelley
Happy Retirement Chris!!!!!!!!!0
