The good pain...

[sarahmichelef]

Over the past week I've increased my resistance by 5 pounds on almost all of my exercises (chest press, row, lat pull, abs (where I'm working with almost half my body weight!), hip abductors & adductors).  This means that my back & shoulders are deliciously sore today - not enough to actually bug me, but enough to remind me that I have been doing good work in the lifting department.

Here's a question for the weight-lifty folks out there... right now I'm doing my bicep curls with 15 pounds and my tricep extensions with 20 (3 sets of 15).  I could PROBABLY go up to 25 on the extensions, but I don't think I could go up to 20 on the curls.  But my biceps are also getting worked on the row and the lat pulls (at least according to how I feel and the diagrams on the machines).  Would it be a bad idea to have a 10 pound differential between my biceps and my triceps?  (I'm planning to ask Joseph the Excessively Cheerful Trainer this same question next time I see him.)

Oh, and my engagement ring is too big.  Keeps spinning around and stabbing me in the pinky.  Woe is me, I know.  ;^)

Comments

[dixon-green.livejournal.com]

Specific to your question, no, I don't think it's a bad differential between the bicep and tricep. Just keep working both, and incresing weight or reps or sets when you need to.

(BTW, good numbers on those weights.)

However. My opinion? Ditch both lifts. You're getting plenty of bicep work with the rows and the lat pull downs (and the chest press). For some tricep work, try dips, especially if there is a dip assist machine at your gym. It's a bodyweight exercise, and with the assist you can displace however much weight you need while you work up the strength (I'm currently able to do sets of 5 at bodyweight, with about 20# displaced for 10-12 rep sets) . You might add shoulder presses, too, really work the upper arms and back.

I'm currently doing close grip bench presses for my tricep work, but then again, I'm very much a fan of the free weights and big compound lifts.

[alphasarah.livejournal.com]

Hrm... there is a dip assist machine and I do like it. I could use that as a substitute for the triceps and maybe the lat pulls depending on how my shoulders react. I have to be careful about repetitive overhead motions due to arthritic (bursitic) shoulders - with the lat pull machine I can keep the shoulders in a "down" position, which I can't do for overhead presses or pull-ups on the assist machine.

I'm not so much a fan of the free weights. They scare me a little bit. ;^)

(The rest of my numbers, doing sets of 15 on everything: chest press at 30 and 15 for the "advanced" movement; row at 50 and 15, lat pulls at 55 (haven't added the advanced movement there); abs (sets of 20) at 70. I keep my leg numbers lower to protect my somewhat touchy knee, plus they bear the brunt of my cardio (elliptical or spinning depending on the day) - leg presses at 50, quads and hams at 20, abductors and adductors at 45.)

[dixon-green.livejournal.com]

Most weights exercises can be classified as push or pull, and you should do a mix of both. Dips and chess press would be push exercises, while lat pull downs and rows would be pull exercises.

My personal bias on reps per set is slightly higher weights with slightly lower reps, 10-12 vs 15. Ultimately, it depends on what your short term/long term goals are.

[baronalejandro.livejournal.com]

It's not a bad idea to have a differential between your biceps and triceps. And that's right, those are good numbers. GO YOU!

I might ditch both lifts, but I would substitute something that's going to strictly work the muscles alone, not free weights. For biceps, maybe preacher-bench curls or something like that.

[brewergnome.livejournal.com]

Your triceps are a bigger muscle group than your biceps and usually stronger. I can do 80 or 90 (bar) on my tricep extensions, but I only do 60 or 70 with my curls.

So no, not a problem.

[brewergnome.livejournal.com]

Though I'll add that I mostly don't do extensions anymore. I sometimes do cable press downs (less pully in painful places) but mostly do dips. Mmm dips.

But then I'm kinda biased against almost all the super-targeted lifts.