JJ Virgin breaks down four arm exercises: push-ups, dips, overhead presses, and lat pulldowns. He focuses on form cues like keeping your spine neutral, positioning your elbows correctly, and lifting your chest during lat pulldowns to hit the lats. Technique matters more than how many reps you do.
I get asked all the time, "How did you get those arms?" Well, here's a big hint. It's not by doing that. I'm going to show you exactly what I do. So for push-ups, what's critical is that you really engage your core. It's like you're starting with a plank and then you're doing a push-up, coming down to a slightly breaking the right angle at your elbows, and then pushing back up without locking your elbows. What's important with the dip is that you keep pulling your tailbone back towards your bench. So that you keep all of the weight over your arms and really work those triceps. What's important with an overhead press is that you bend your knees slightly, pull your belly button towards your spine, and really engage your core. Then, when you bring your hands up, make sure your palms are facing each other and you're pushing up in front of you, slightly in front of your body, so that you protect your shoulder girdle. When you're doing a lat pulldown, you want to think about lifting your chest up towards the sky. As you're pulling down, keep extending your chest up. If you start to crunch at the waist and pull your chest forward, you actually use your traps instead of your lats.
