biceps/triceps

diskotek
diskotek Posts: 12
edited September 28 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi there, i'm new to the whole exercising thing as I have ignored it. But now I'm really getting in to it and my motivation is MFP :)

Just wondering if it is ok to do both biceps and triceps on the same day, or should they be spread out? Do you build more muscle if it is done on the same day?

Any tips would be great.

My current workout is a very simple home one which consists of Mon-Fri on the Elliptical Trainer, Mon/Wed/Fri doing bicep curls, pushups, planks, sit-ups and I want to start doing my triceps to get rid of the little bit of tuck-shop arms I have :)

Thanks

Replies

  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
    ohh..you can get probably 20 different opinions on this.

    most though will say if you do a pushing exercise you need to do a pulling of the same muscle. a lot of people swear by split routines. usually it goes upper body (tris bis traps pecs etc), lower body (quads, hams, calves, glutes) ..some even go further than that and break it down even more. to arms one day, back and chest another etc etc.

    i suggest joining bodybuilding.com..its a great community with tons of info from body builders.
  • natskedat
    natskedat Posts: 570 Member
    Yes, you can do them on the same day. No problem. Just don't work them two days in a row. Keep up the great work!
  • stevemcknight
    stevemcknight Posts: 647 Member
    Of course you can work them on the same day - but better yet, do compound moves that work the extremities. Do bench (or close grip bench) for tri work, chin ups for bi work. Unless we're finishing off before a fitness show/photo shoot, there's probably better uses of time than doing small muscle group work.
  • OutDaWay
    OutDaWay Posts: 40 Member
    Working out is all about routine. You have specific areas you would like too work on, in a limited amount of time. Splitting these areas up over your week is ideal for muscle recovery and healing. You are just going to cheat yourself by working tri/bi on the same day.

    Look at it like this - If you're doing hammer curls @ 4 reps of 60 x10 each rep. You're going 2 burn that specific set of muscles out. So when you go too the next lift your bicep will be lose and ready. Now couple that with a tricep. It's going to work a whole new set of muscles of which will be effected by your tired out bicep muscles. So instead of doing due diligence to your tricep with single rope 90lb tricep pull downs. You're gonna be doing 40lb pull downs.

    Break up your routines and you will see better results. Personally my schedule for this week is below

    Monday - Chest / Shoulders
    Tuesday - Leg/bicep
    Wend. - Back/tric
    Thursday - free day - I normally do what I feel I was cheated on (Stolen bench or area) or lacked on during the first part of the
    week...
    Friday - No workout
    Saturday - Mix up
    Sunday - Mix up

    Mix-up is the actual start of my routine

    All of my workout are coupled with cardo (at least 30minutes on the treadmill) before I start lifting. This gets the blood moving and the heart pumping.. Plus it gets you ready to have a killer workout.

    I hope this helps, friend if you like.
  • diskotek
    diskotek Posts: 12
    Thanks for the replies.

    I don't have access to a gym, so I am limited to what i can do from the stuff I have at home. I have a basic dumbell set, and an elliptical trainer lol.

    I'm not looking at 'losing weight' in those areas, basically just want to tone them up, and build a little more muscle.

    I might jump on youtube later on and check out what i can do with the dumbells :)
  • OutDaWay
    OutDaWay Posts: 40 Member
    Tone up is easy as pie. It's just tons of reps @ less weight. Buddy I work out with isn't bulking up as much as he is toning.
  • Agglaki
    Agglaki Posts: 105
    Two things, you can't loose weight in a specific area and you can't tone up...there really isn't such a thing. You can only drop body fat, which in turn leads to a more "toned" and tight look on the muscles.
    Also since you want to gain muscle your weight loss should actually be fat loss.

    To do this you need to watch your nutrition as well as your exercise plan. The difficult part is that fat loss usually requires a calorie deficit and muscle gain usually requires a calorie surplus. Trying to balance the two will be difficult.

    Depending on how much body fat you have, you could actually workout at a slight calorie deficit, drop fat and maintain muscle mass. But that is a different conversation altogether.

    In regards to the original question, biceps and triceps are great to work together in supersets, i.e. one bicep exercise followed by one for the triceps.

    Personally I've been using a schedule recently of doing biceps with back and triceps with chest on different days. The main thing as already pointed out is to ensure you don't overwork your biceps. They are a very small muscle group and can't take a lot of punishment.

    Give a rest to allow for the muscle to repair.

    Also keep in mind that your biceps will look bigger if you have a bigger tricep. The triceps "push" the biceps. They are a bigger muscle group and can take more punishment.

    There are many different exercises you can do at home without the need for a bench press, using just dumbbells. You wont have a problem with finding exercises to do.

    Hope this helps :)
  • NikkisNewStart
    NikkisNewStart Posts: 1,075 Member
    I second the other poster who suggested signing up on bodybuilding.com.

    For what it's worth... the majority here are losing weight and are not focused so much on muscle building. Get your information from credible sources b/c you'll find an expert on every single topic on this site. No disrespect meant... just consider the sources!
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