The development and activation of brain cross-connection is what happens early in life with crawling and walking.
You're going to be performing 3 exercises in sequence with one arm while simultaneously performing the same (but opposing) movements with the OTHER arm.
The exercises are a dumbbell curl (for biceps), an Arnold Press (for shoulders) and a overhead dumbbell extension (for triceps).
You CAN do this exercise as an actual exercise with heavier weight, however I find it most useful to do as a warm-up because of the dynamic nature of the combination.
The first time you do this exercise, start LIGHT and go SLOW...it takes some practice and coordination to get good at it and speed it up.
Here's what this cross-connection warm-up looks like...
Start with both dumbbells held by your sides.
Perform a curl with your right arm.
Do an Arnold Press to the top position. The movement is just a press starting from a curl position, rotating at the shoulder as you press up.
Bring that dumbbell down into a tricep extension. As you can see in the pic, I'm not worried about the elbow flaring out...this warm-up is not about stretch or tension on the muscles. The focus is one movement and coordination.
Now comes the fun part...performing the OPPOSING movement with the other arm as you come back through the sequence. This is what activates those cross-connections between the two sides of your brain.
Extend the right arm, coming to the top of the extension while doing a curl with the left arm.
Lower the right dumbbell while pressing the left dumbbell (they'll be passing in the middle here).
Now you're at the bottom of the Arnold Press with the right arm and the top of the Arnold Press with the left arm.
Lower the right dumbbell into the start position (bottom of the curl) and the left dumbbell down into the tricep extension.
Now repeat again with opposing movements.
Keep going in this fashion for about 30-60 seconds.
Again START SLOW the first time you do this one. The coordination is not easy to get right away but once you get into the flow, it'll really feel natural and you can speed it up.
A word of advice...once you've developed the skills for this one and are able to bump up the tempo, don't think about the movements. Just let them happen. Thinking about them will just get in your way.
This is a GREAT upper body warm-up, not only for getting blood flow into your shoulders and arms but to get your nervous system engaged and ready for action.
Beyond using it as a warm-up, you can also perform something similar as a fat-loss exercise.
---
Gain 5.7 lbs of mass in the next 4 weeks? Sounds impossible, right? Not with the Muscle Explosion program. Using a powerful, strategic approach to nutrition and training, you'll see gains in mass and strength the likes of which you've never experienced before.
Share This Page...
Want More Strength-Building Techniques and Programs?
You'll find them here...
Support