Step 1: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Grab a dumbbell in either hand and raise them over the chest with your wrists curled slightly inward. Keep your elbows soft.
Step 2: Keeping the elbows soft and wrists curled, pull the dumbbells away from each other out to a “T.” You’ll control the range of motion, stopping it before your elbows hit the floor. Close the fly and repeat.
4. Triceps Extension
Step 2: Dip the weight behind your head. Keep your elbows in close to your head — when you dip the weight back, your elbows will want to flare out. Instead, keep it tight and depend on the triceps to hold it together.
Step 1: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Hinge at the hips and lean forward so your hips go behind your heels and the back is flat. Keep your gaze in front of you at the floor and hold the dumbbells in front of you with arms extended, palms facing in.
Step 2: Keeping your arms straight (without locking the elbows), lift your dumbbells to the side of your body. If you have to jerk your body to complete this movement, decrease your weight. Avoid putting the work in your lower back. Squeeze your shoulder blades together then release the weights back under the chest with control. That is one rep.
6. Pyramid Pulse
Step 2: Raise your elbows up a few inches and back down to the starting position. This is your pulse range. Keep the same amount of pressure on the ball, and keep your hands together. The shoulders should stay down — if they creep up, rest and restart.
Step 1: Stand with your feet shoulder-width distance apart, a light weight in each hand. Extended your arms out to each side, parallel to the ground with your palms facing the ground.
Step 2: Draw small, controlled circles in a clockwise motion with your weights for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, switch to a counter-clockwise motion for 30 seconds. Remember to keep your back straight and abs in tight. Do not arch your back. If you feel yourself compromising your form, drop to a lighter set of dumbbells.
8. Dumbbell Floor Press
Step 2: Lower your arms down until your upper arms quickly touch the floor (do not rest them on the floor), and then press upwards to the starting position. That is one rep. Pause briefly at the top before slowly reversing the movement.
