20 DAYS ARMS AND LEGS

Do a full range of motion. Keep the lower back in a neutral position by assuming a posterior pelvic tilt. This will ensure that your hips are neither too high or too low, allowing your proper target point (the chest) to reach the ground first. Make sure to keep your neck as neutral as possible throughout the movement! Hand placement - laying face down on the ground, simply reach your arms overhead and then slide them down until your elbows are at about 45-60�. From here, slide your hands down to about shoulder height and press your body up. Make sure your hands are rotated outwards, to about 2 o�clock. Unshrug your shoulders - keep your shoulder blades back and down throughout. Unshrug the shoulders at the top of the movement and keep them unshrug - do not clench the scapulae when you are at the bottom. Imagine bringing your bicep forward. Instead of going straight up and down, you want to push your body at an angle, similar to what you would do with a bench press. By slightly pivoting off your toes, you will be able to descend forward and then push yourself up and back. This will also allow you to keep your elbows stacked over your wrists, which is key for proper pushup mechanics. Go slow and controlled - 2 seconds on the way down and 2 seconds on the way up.

With your legs extended back, place the hands staggered, with one being higher than the other and slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Start bending your elbows and lower your chest until it�s just above the floor. Extend your arms to push back up and then reverse your hand position.

Instead of pushing straight up and down with our chest doing most of the work, we can make our shoulders do more of the work by pushing away.

Grab a chinup bar using an underhand grip with your hands placed 6 to 8 inches apart. Hang at arm's length�also known as a dead hang�pointing your legs slightly in front of you to form a wide C. Now press your thighs together and brace your abs; your body should remain rigid for the entire movement.

Using a pronated grip, grasp the pull bar with a wider than shoulder width grip. Take a deep breath, squeeze your glutes and brace your abs. Depress the shoulder blades and then drive the elbows straight down to the floor while activating the lats. Pull your chin towards the bar until the lats are fully contracted, then slowly lower yourself back to the start position and repeat for the assigned number of repetitions.
To decrease bicep involvement, use a false (thumbless grip). Try to keep a neutral head position (looking straight ahead or slightly up) as hyperextending the neck can lead to compensations throughout the spine. If the bar is high enough, keep the legs straight and in front of the body in a hollow body position. Avoid falling into overextension of the lumbar spine by squeezing your glutes and bracing your abs. The pullup is completed when the lats are fully flexed, don�t continue pulling and compensate with the pecs. When this occurs, the elbows will flare up behind the body, the shoulder will round forward, and you�ll begin to feel pressure in the front of your shoulders. A lifter�s segment length will determine whether or not they can actually get their chin over the bar, it�s not an absolute for everyone. Lower to almost full extension of the elbow but avoid locking out completely as this can place excessive strain on the ligamentous structures within the elbow and shoulder. If you can�t complete a single bodyweight pullup, start with slow negatives (add weight when these can be accomplished under control) or flexed arm hangs in the top position. Ditch the straps and kips, neither one is necessary or recommended.

Stand up with your torso upright while holding an E-Z Curl Bar at the closer inner handle. The palm of your hands should be facing forward and they should be slightly tilted inwards due to the shape of the bar. The elbows should be close to the torso. This will be your starting position. While holding the upper arms stationary, curl the weights forward while contracting the biceps as you breathe out. Tip: Only the forearms should move. Continue the movement until your biceps are fully contracted and the bar is at shoulder level. Hold the contracted position for a second and squeeze the biceps hard. Slowly begin to bring the bar back to starting position as your breathe in. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions. NOTE: There are a few essential things to watch for when doing this exercise. First, avoid swinging motions or overcompensating with your shoulders. Keep your pelvis tucked and core engaged to prevent shifting during the concentric phase of the exercise. If you struggle with shoulder or back compensations, stand against a wall and don�t allow your back to come away during the movement.

Prior to performing the dumbbell reverse wrist curl, it is important to first choose a suitable weight so as to reduce the chance of injury, as the tendons and bones in the wrist and forearms can be quite fragile if strained at the wrong angle. Once the proper amount of resistance has been selected, the exerciser must then sit on a flat surface or bench with their knees extended forwards and their hands gripping the dumbbells or dumbbell in a reverse grip with the palms facing downwards. The arms of the exerciser must be resting on their legs in such a way that the wrists are hanging off the knees by several inches, allowing them to pronate and supinate freely as needed. The dumbbells must be hanging from the hands without causing any sort of muscular activation in the forearms, which will be considered the exerciser�s resting position. Slowly, the exerciser will then raise the dumbbells upwards by drawing their hands backwards so the palms are now facing forwards or in the direction of their feet. It is important to ensure that only the forearm muscles are being activated in this exercise by firmly holding the exerciser�s arms in place, keeping their elbows in contact with their thighs so as to prevent any unconscious movement. The exerciser must hold this wrist position for a moment before allowing the dumbbells to make a controlled descent back into the resting position, completing one repetition of dumbbell reverse wrist curls.

Attach your lastic on the high hook. Stand sideway to the hook and grip the handle of the lastics. Stand at a distance that allows you to still have slight pressure at the lastic when your arm is fully extended. When doing the curl, hinge only the elbow, the rest of your body should remain static. Curl behind your head. As you reach the top of the movement, squeeze your biceps for a few seconds before bringing your arms back to the starting position. Elevate your elbows slightly to achieve that peak contraction.

To get started, you need handheld weights like dumbbells or even a weighted barbell. If you are new to exercise, start with lighter weights to prevent injury. Kneel down behind a bench or other flat surface. Bend forward at the hips and rest your forearms on the bench about shoulder-width apart with your palms facing up. Your back is flat and your shoulders are back and down. Your wrists are in a neutral position (not lifted or lowered). Curl your wrists upward as you exhale. Perform this movement slowly to engage the forearms and prevent the weights from straining your wrists. Extend your wrists downward as far as they will comfortably go on an inhale. Return the wrists to a neutral position. Your forearms are stationary during this exercise; only your wrists should be moving.

Be sure as you perform this rear delt exercise that you are dropping the elbow and allowing your thumbs to win the race to the top of the rep. Your thumbs should be pointing behind you at the end of the rep to ensure that you have good shoulder external rotation during the exercise and are maintaining safe shoulder biomechanics at the same time.

Grab onto the dumbbells with an underhand grip. Hold them just at shoulder distance so the dumbbells are aligned with your shoulders. Flex at the elbow while driving your elbow back (slowly) so the dumbbells move up in a straight path of motion. The higher you go, the more your elbows will go back. Keep your shoulders down and packed throughout the movement. Once you reach peak contraction, hold for a moment and really squeeze your biceps, then slowly return them back down through the same path of motion until your arms are fully extended.

Anchor a band at shoulder hight or above. Have a band in each hand and cross the bands. Straighten the arms and bring them slightly above shoulder height. From this position, squeeze your shoulder blades and pull the bands to your face. Keep your elbows high straight out to the side of your shoulders. Your palms should be facing forward. While holding the tension in the band in this position, press your arms straight up overhead. Lower down and return to starting position. Keep your back upright, don't lean back or forwards.

Select the desired weight from the rack and assume a shoulder width stance. Using a supinated grip, take a deep breath and curl the dumbbells towards your shoulders. Once the biceps are fully shortened, rotate the forearms to a pronated position (palms down) and slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions. Don�t allow the elbows to shift behind the body. Similarly, make sure the shoulder doesn�t shift forward in the socket as you lower the weight. Maintain a slight bend in the elbow at the bottom of the movement in order to keep tension through the biceps. Rotate the forearms slowly, excessive velocity may cause issues within the elbows or wrists. Using a slow eccentric (lowering portion) of the exercise can help to improve tension and mind muscle connection.

Stand up with a dumbbell in each hand being held at arm�s length. The elbows should be close to the torso. Your legs should be at about shoulder�s width apart from each other. Rotate the palms of the hands so that they are facing inward in a neutral position. Curl the weights out while contracting the biceps. Your wrist should turn so that when the weights are fully elevated you have supinated grip (palms facing up). Continue the movement until your biceps are fully contracted, and the dumbbells are at shoulder level. Hold for a second. Slowly begin to bring the dumbbells back to the starting position. Remember to rotate the wrists as you lower the weight in order to switch back to a neutral grip. Repeat for desired reps.

Anchor: Secure the band(s) to the door with the door anchor at chest height. Attach each end of the band(s) to a closed ankle strap and place your hands through the straps (so that they are resting on the top of your wrists.) Stand 3 to 4 feet away from the door while facing the door. Keep your feet hips width apart, chest up and head straight. Position your arms straight out in front of you (parallel with the floor), and your palms down. Pull your elbows back until your they are even with your shoulders. Return to the starting position (controlling the resistance). Repeat. As you pull your elbows back, keep your hands relaxed. At the end of the movement, your upper and lower arm should be at a 90 degree angle.

Taking a dumbbell in your working hand, lean forward. Allow your working arm to hang perpendicular to the ground with the elbow pointing out. This will be your starting position. Flex the elbow to curl the weight, keeping the upper arm stationary. At the top of the repetition, flex the biceps and pause. Lower the dumbbell back to the starting position.

Anchor: Secure the band(s) to the door with the door anchor at waist height. Attach each end of the band(s) to a handle. Grip a handle in each hand and stand 3 to 4 feet away from the door, facing the door. Position your arms so that they are bent at a 90 degree angle, with your forearms and upper arms parallel with the floor. Keep your head straight, chest up and stomach tight. Rotate your arms up against the resistance until your forearm is perpendicular to the floor. Return to the starting position (controlling the resistance). Repeat. As you are rotating your arms keep you elbows even with your shoulders.

To get the most out of the hammer curl, the key is changing that position of the forearm and elbow during the movement. Instead of just keeping your hand in neutral with your knuckles pointed straight ahead, fold the arm against the chest and pronate the forearm into a Crossbody Hammer Curl. From here, simply flex and extend the elbow to lift and lower the dumbbell. This will really ignite the brachialis while minimizing the contribution of the bicep muscles to the movement.

You won�t be able to lift nearly as much in a reverse curl (pronated grip) as you will with a traditional bicep curl (supinated grip). A good rule of thumb is to start off with about half of whatever weight you currently curl for your biceps. Start with a shoulder width apart, pronated grip (palms facing down, knuckles towards face). The bar should be resting on your thighs. On the EZ bar, you will grab onto the downward slopes towards the outside of the bar. If you are using a straight bar, then you�ll simply aim for a shoulder width apart pronated grip. Pull the bar up slowly towards your chin, hinging at your elbows. It�s important to keep your elbows, back, and core as still as possible. If you can�t do this without rocking your arms and torso back and forth, then you probably have too much weight on the bar. Only the lower half of your arms should be moving. Squeeze, or flex, at the top, and hold it for a second or two. Exhale as you lift the bar towards you. Inhale on the way down. Make sure your movement is slow and controlled upon descent.

To do this simple exercise, starting position is face up on the floor and bending your elbows on the ground with fists up in the air. Push hard through the upper back to engage the rhomboids, traps, and posterior delts to get your upper body and spine up and off the ground, and pull your shoulder blades in, keeping your knees bent with feet on the floor. Pause at the top, and then return to starting position lowering your body toward floor, and then push yourself up again. The pro tip here is to hold the contraction on each repetition, and make sure you get yourself up by using your back muscles and not momentum!

Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding an EZ bar in an underhand grip. If possible, position your hands with a narrow, slightly supinated grip. Keep a relaxed wrist, do not squeeze the bar. Start with the EZ bar resting against your thighs. Brace your core and slowly curl the EZ bar toward your chest. As you do, allow your elbows to shift back so that the bar remains in contact with your body. In other words, you�re dragging the bar. Lift straight up instead of bringing forward. Keep elbows at the back. When the bar reaches chest level, pause and squeeze. Reverse the motion back to the starting position, maintaining contact with your body the entire way. Start practicing this movement with an unloaded EZ bar to get the motion down. Slow, controlled movement is essential for avoiding shoulder compensations.

Perform a chin-up and slowly lower down in the position where the most tension falls on your biceps. Stay as much as you can, then lower down to dead hang and pull yourself up again to chin-up. Repeat.

Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a long resistance band in front of you with your palms face down. Hold your hands at shoulder height and at shoulder width-distance apart.
Push your feet into the ground with your knees slightly bent, hips tucked, and glutes squeezed. Engage your core, depress your shoulders, and retract your head. Maintain this tension.
Inhale and then exhale as you pull your band apart, keeping your arms straight or with a very soft elbow bend. Pull until you can feel your rear delts engage when shoulder blades squeeze together. Hold for a second to feel the contraction on the backs of your shoulders.
Inhale and slowly return your hands to starting position with control while fighting the resistance of the band. Exhale to pull again and repeat. Continue for your desired number of reps.
Coach�s Tip: Move slowly with control instead of momentum and keep the rest of your body engaged.
Sets and Reps: Perform two to three sets of 15 to 20 reps as a warm-up. To increase difficulty and build strength, try a band with a heavier resistance and perform three to four sets of eight to 10 reps.
Make it Easier: Keep your hands close to the ends of the band to decrease the level of tension. As you gain more strength, bring your hands gradually closer together.
Make it Tougher: Perform your pull-aparts from a hinge position, which will require you to pay extra attention to core stability and hamstring flexibility.