Intensity Part II: Working Opposite Body Parts Together

Today I popped an ENERFIT and hit arms and boy did I hit them good! I worked my biceps and my triceps together which are opposite body parts. Biceps are used along with your back for many pulling type exercises and triceps commonly assist your chest with pushing movements. Not only are they "opposite" in their functionality, but they are also located on "opposite" sides of the arm.

Working opposite body parts together are a great way to really raise the intensity level in your training because you are forcing a lot of blood into one general area (in my case the upper arms were targeted today).

What I mean by working them "together" is that you are interchanging body parts with each exercise or even each set instead of finishing all your planned exercises for one body part before moving on to the other. For example, today I started will bicep barbell curls. I did 4 sets of 10-12 exercises with little rest in between, squeezing the focus muscle hard at the top of each rep. Rather than move onto my next set of bicep exercises, I moved on to tricep pull-downs with the rope. Same thing: 4 sets of 10-12 reps with little rest in between. Even after doing one exercise for my bi's and one for my tri's I was already sweating and my arms were as tight as can be (I may have even been caught admiring them once or twice....or maybe three times but whose counting).

I followed this pattern for 3 more exercises a piece; working one body part for a few sets and then onto the other. When I was finished I was covered in sweat and I felt great knowing that I had achieved an intensity level that was going to change the shape, firmness, and look of my arms (providing I eat right and get enough sleep of course).

Try working opposite body parts during your next workout routine such as biceps with triceps or chest with back (Arnold was known to frequently train chest with back). Remember the idea is to push blood into the focus muscle and don't forget to do what you need to do to reach the proper intensity level as discussed in the last post. Good luck and remember that with every rep you are closer to a Hard Body.