The biceps or biceps brachii is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join to form a single muscle belly which is attached to the upper forearm. While the biceps crosses both the shoulder and elbow joints, its main function is at the elbow where it flexes and supinates the forearm. Both these movements are used when opening a bottle with a corkscrew: first biceps screws in the cork (supination), then it pulls the cork out (flexion).
The latissimus dorsi is a large, flat muscle on the back that stretches to the sides, behind the arm, and is partly covered by the trapezius on the back near the midline.
The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a compound movement, with the primary muscles involved being the pectoralis major, the anterior deltoids, and the triceps brachii. Other muscles located in the back, legs and core are involved for stabilization. A barbell is generally used to hold the weight, but a pair of dumbbells can also be used.
The push-up is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior deltoids, with ancillary benefits to the rest of the deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis and the midsection as a whole. Push-ups are a basic exercise used in civilian athletic training or physical education and commonly in military physical training. They are also a common form of punishment used in the military, school sport, and some martial arts disciplines. Variations of push-ups, such as wide-arm push-ups, diamond push-ups target specific muscle groups and provide further challenges.
'Warming up' is a part of stretching and preparation for physical exertion or a performance by exercising or practicing gently beforehand, usually undertaken before a performance or practice. Athletes, singers, actors and others warm up before stressing their muscles. It is widely believed to prepare the muscles for vigorous actions and to prevent muscle cramps and injury due to overexertion.
Muscle fatigue is when muscles that were initially generating a normal amount of force, then experience a declining ability to generate force. It can be a result of vigorous exercise, but abnormal fatigue may be caused by barriers to or interference with the different stages of muscle contraction. There are two main causes of muscle fatigue: the limitations of a nerve’s ability to generate a sustained signal ; and the reduced ability of the muscle fiber to contract.
A handstand is the act of supporting the body in a stable, inverted vertical position by balancing on the hands. In a basic handstand, the body is held straight with arms and legs fully extended, with hands spaced approximately shoulder-width apart and the legs together. There are many variations of handstands, all of which require the performer to possess adequate balance and upper body strength.
Bicep curls are a group of weight training exercises in which a person bends their arm towards their body at the elbow in order to make their biceps stronger.
Strength training, also known as weight training or resistance training, involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training techniques such as bodyweight exercises, isometrics, and plyometrics.
Exercise equipment is any apparatus or device used during physical activity to enhance the strength or conditioning effects of that exercise by providing either fixed or adjustable amounts of resistance, or to otherwise enhance the experience or outcome of an exercise routine.
In weight training, training to failure is repeating an exercise to the point of momentary muscular failure, i.e. the point where the neuromuscular system can no longer produce adequate force to overcome a specific workload. Two systematic reviews published in 2021 found no benefit to training to failure on hypertrophy, while one of the reviews found some evidence that not-to-failure training is superior for strength.
Closed kinetic chain exercises or closed chain exercises (CKC) are physical exercises performed where the hand or foot is fixed in space and cannot move. The extremity remains in constant contact with the immobile surface, usually the ground or the base of a machine.
A bent-over row is a weight training exercise that targets a variety of back muscles depending on the form used. It is often used for both bodybuilding and powerlifting.
The pull-down exercise is a strength training exercise designed to develop the latissimus dorsi muscle. It performs the functions of downward rotation and depression of the scapulae combined with adduction and extension of the shoulder joint.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to exercise:
The upright row is a weight training exercise performed by holding a weight with an overhand grip and lifting it straight up to the collarbone. This is a compound exercise that involves the trapezius, the deltoids and the biceps. The narrower the grip the more the trapezius muscles are exercised, as opposed to the deltoids.
The inverted row is an exercise in calisthenics. It primarily works the muscles of the upper back—the trapezius and latissimus dorsi—as well as the biceps as a secondary muscle group. The supine row is normally carried out in three to five sets, but repetitions depend on the type of training a lifter is using to make their required gains. This exercise is lighter on the joints compared to weighted rows. The exercise can also be performed with mixed, underhand, or overhand grips with either wide or narrow hand placement. The exercise is also known under various names such as supine row, bodyweight row, Australian pull up or "horizontal pull-up".
A power tower, also known as a knee raise station, and as a captain's chair, is a piece of exercise equipment that allows one to build upper body and abdominal muscle strength. When only the forearm pads alone are used for performing abdominal exercises, the power tower requires minimal arm strength as it is stable and movement occurs in the hips and torso. The equipment commonly has a backrest and forearm rests that form the chair, with vertical handles at the ends of the arm rests. The word "power" comes from the addition of other powerful arm exercises such as parallel horizontal handles for performing dips, a pull-up bar attached to the top for chin-ups and pull-ups, and push-up handles that are usually found on the bottom for Atlas ("deep") push-ups.
Velocity based training (VBT) is a modern approach to strength training and power training which utilises velocity tracking technology to provide rich objective data as a means to motivate and support real-time adjustments in an athlete's training plan. Typical strength and power programming and periodisation plans rely on the manipulation of reps, sets and loads as a means to calibrate training stressors in the pursuit of specific adaptations. Since the late 1990s, innovations in bar speed monitoring technology has brought velocity based training closer to the mainstream as the range of hardware and software solutions for measuring exercise velocities have become easier to use and more affordable. Velocity based training has a wide range of use cases and applications in strength and conditioning. These include barbell sports such as powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting and Crossfit, as well as rock climbing.Velocity based training is widely adopted across professional sporting clubs, with the data supporting many periodisation decisions for coaches in the weight room and on the field.
A training sled, weight sled, or fitness sled is a piece of exercise equipment that provides resistance as the user pushes, pulls, or otherwise moves the sled along a flat surface. Commercial sleds allow easily adjusting the weight or resistance and are supported on feet or wheels that allow moving the sled across surfaces such as grass, turf, or pavement without damage. Training with sleds has become increasingly popular since 2015, due in part to their availability in Crossfit gyms. Sled pulling and sled pushing are commonly used forms of training for sprinting.
