I grabbed my dumbbells and I set up my bench to begin my exercise. To perform this exercise you need a bench and two dumbbells. you press both dumbbells over your head until your arms are fully extended. After holding for a second you bring them back down and this is one rep (Incledon and Hoffman 139). I started off by using my 35 pound dumbbells. They were way too heavy, so I moved down to 30. This was still too heavy and I was starting to get frustrated. I then checked my book for tips to make the exercise easier.
Men's Health recommended only using my dumbbell at a time, only raising the dumbbells halfway above your head, or pressing the dumbbells over the head using a hand position in which your palms face your ears. (Incledon and Hoffman 139). I tried all three of these tips for different sets and it was so much easier now.
How do you deal with an unpleasant exercise? Do you stick with it and keep going or do you quit and try something else?
Citation:
Incledon, Thomas, and Matthew Hoffman. Men's Health Maximum Muscle Plan. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2006. Print.
Jeff I completely agree that this exercise will help you go far in your swimming. Shoulders are not only important in swimming but many other sports as well. Over this last summer, a major key for me to be more successful in basketball was to increase the strength in not only my shoulders, but my upper body as a whole. While working out, I remember my trainer having me do this exercise for the first time. Just like you I didn't enjoy them. But over time, they became easier and easier and allowed me to increase my weight every time. To answer your question, I deal with unpleasant exercises by imagining how this will increase my overall athleticism and benefit me in everyway I see possible. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteHey, Jeff! I like your post! I need to work on my arms a lot for swim because they always hurt, but now thanks to your techniques I will make the hurting no more!
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