Conference pasta::flex

egad, Nat! my gawd! please don't ever let me get you angry with me! you're 
benching 400 and you're concerned about tri development?  i'll bet that once you
shed some of the weight you want to get rid of, that those tris will come 
popping thru!

i can suggest kickbacks and when you do them, bring the arm up a little on the 
rear extension and then curl the db backwards (kinda like a reverse hammer 
curl).  on tri pushdowns, vary the angle on full extension: use a rope, angle 
bar, straight bar and split it up per/day, too: 1 rope, 1 angle, 1 straight...
(1 = 1 set/x reps).  dips will help, too.

good luck on the weight loss, do it slowly and right and you're prolly going to 
find that you're going to have to up you aero work, some; i'm a smaller version
of you and have always had a little too much problem, too.  have you ever had 
your thyroid checked?

reg.

  Question: What's a hammer curl and a reverse hammer curl ?

	Keith

    Hammer curls are done with either a specialty curling bar or ropes on a
    a cable machine or dumbbells.  Using moderately weighted dumbbells,
    stand feet shoulder width apart.  Your arms are by your sides palms
    facing each other, just curl without twisting straight up keeping palms
    facing each other straight up until they touch your shoulders.  These
    are primarily for you forearm development.
    
    Brian

<--yeah! think of hammering a nail, only now hold a db and now bring it through 
the same motion: hammer curls are great for building forearms and the lower 
bicep muscle group [brachialis (sp)] located just above the elbow. you can 
suppinate the hand [palm inward] at the top of the movement to work in some 
bicep, too.

what i meant by "reverse": i mentioned to do tri kickbacks for building 
[shaping] triceps so that they stand out; with the kickback, you are usually 
bent at waist with your free arm supporting your upper body [you can be 90� to
45� bent] and your other arm is holding a db.  the arm is bent making a right 
angle with the upper arm tucked to your side and parallel with the floor and the
forearm hanging perpendicular to the floor. you move the forearm with palm in 
neutral position towards your butt and crunch the tricep.  the "reverse" hammer
comes in when you squeeze a little more crunch and a  little more tilt "up" of 
the db; one should get a real good burn outa this baby and it's a good tri 
pumper.

reg.

    
    .1
    I wish I was doing 400lb bench right now!  It's just a goal for now,
    although I do see myself reaching it in 4-6 months.  The reverse
    hammer/kickbacks sounds like a good idea, I'll try them for awhile.
    
    I'll have to ask a doctor about the thyroid thing.  My family medical
    history does include thyroid problems, I just never thought about them.
    
    .2-.4
    Reg and Brian pretty well summed up hammer curls.  I find they help
    greatly with carpal tunnel type stuff.  I'm at a keyboard almost all
    day here, and during high school and college did a lot of hammering,
    which is another action that has repetitive motion injuries associated
    with it.  The hammer curls have allowed me to pick up a hammer for a
    few days of work and not end the day unable to open my hand from the
    lack of muscle control.
    
    -Nat
        

  Thanks for the excellent descriptions of the hammer curl/reverse hammer curl.

	Keith

    I find hammer curls also hit a different head of the bicep, giving it
    better shape. Also good for forearms, though, as someone said.
    You can do them with dumb bells, too. Just watch that elbow - don't
    lock it out and don't come up too far to release the contraction.
    Keep the elbows in tight to you sides.
    S

    
    
    You can also do a hammer curls across the chest instead of using a 
    upward and downward motion like hammering a nail. Start with the 
    dumbells along either side of you.  Keeping you elbows close to your
    side lift one of the dumbells up and across the chest area, lower it 
    in the same manner then do the other side.
    
    For better tricep development you can do what are call french pressess
    or scull crushers. One exercise that really hits the tricep big time is
    over head tricep extensions using a rope with the lat machine or any
    high pulley aparatus. after a couple sets of these you are will be
    screeming for days!
    
    Then there are also close grip bench pressess and dips. I feel that the 
    extension exercises are more of a shaping movement than a mass builder.
    
    	Wayne  

    
    It's been a good few weeks lifting.  I've been getting a good burn in
    my triceps for the first time in a long time thanks to the advice, and
    I've been making real strength gains, particulary in my biceps and
    chest.  Best of all I'm down 20lbs from my Jan weight, and two inches
    in the waist.
    
    The only problem I've had has been pain in a nerve in my neck that
    starts right at the shoulder, runs just to the left of my spine, and
    goes over the top of my head to my forehead.  It only happed when
    benching heavy, and I seem to have stopped it by changing head
    position.  I used to lift with my head rotated slightly to the left for
    some reason, and now I just make sure to keep my head straight up and
    down, and the pain doesn't happen.
    
    Oh, and I guess I should put this in the lunch note, but right now I'm
    planning on making it to the Kimballs run.  It'll be good to put faces
    to the names.  At least for those in the area.
    
    -Nat