In a brief span of 10 minutes, learn a quick routine to strengthen your arms and abdominal muscles.
Building Strong Arms and Abs with Alex Marks' 10-Minute Finisher
Personal trainer Alex Marks of On Your Marks in London has recommended a 10-minute finisher to help build strong arms and abs. This routine involves three accessory exercises, each focused on different muscle groups.
To start, the first accessory exercise is the dumbbell biceps curl. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand by your side, palms facing in. Curl the weights up towards your shoulders, rotating your palms to face your chest. Squeeze your biceps hard at the top of the lift, then lower the dumbbells slowly under control for a count of two seconds.
Next, keep your elbows tucked in close to your body, and slowly lower yourself off the bench until your arms bend 90 degrees. Press through your palms until your arms straighten, and repeat. This is the bench triceps dip.
For the third accessory exercise, lie on your back on a bench with your knees bent 90 degrees, gripping the bench either side of your head. Now use your abs to lift your upper back off the bench while simultaneously lifting your legs. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes to keep your body stable. This is the bench reverse crunch.
To make this move easier, bring your legs closer and bend the knees, or to make it harder, keep your legs straight. If this feels comfortable, progress can be made to 45 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest, then 60 seconds of work and zero rest. For relative beginners, each exercise can be broken down into 60-second blocks, with 30 seconds of exercise followed by 30 seconds of rest.
As fatigue builds, performing these biceps curls on alternate sides can make this feel slightly easier. The objective is to create 10 minutes of near-constant tension, not to move aggressively or with momentum. The end goal is to get to a point where you can keep pushing to failure on each exercise for a continuous circuit of muscle building.
To engage your deep core muscles, press your lower back into the bench. Hold the edge of the bench with fingers pointed forward and retract your shoulders to engage your upper back muscles. Keep your bum close to the bench throughout to reduce pressure on your shoulders.
Experienced trainer Alex Marks recommends including accessory finishers at the end of regular workouts to build strong arms and abs. The trainers who presented the recommended accessory exercises for building strong arms and armpit muscles are not specified in the available information.
