Reader Question: Is Working Your Arms a Waste of Time?
By admin on Jul 17, 2010 in Health and Fitness
Not too long ago I got a question from one of our NutritionData readers who asked, “Is there even a need to individually isolate and train arms anymore? I feel like making time for arms bogs down my workouts the most.”
Good question! Most people who are trying to lose weight never stop to think about the exercises they are currently doing that are actually holding them back from seeing even greater results.
Answer: I have to agree with your initial assessment about individual arm exercises in your workout program. Your biceps and triceps muscle groups are a small % of your total muscleso if your goal is overall fitness and getting lean those particular single-joint exercises are a waste of time when you should be concentrating on doing more squats, lunges, deadlifts, press, and pulls to burn the fat.
You could even take this argument one step further and argue that doing “abs” are a waist of time as well, since they are being worked throughout good core exercises anyway. I know that taking people’s ab exercises away is like telling a kid he can’t have ice cream after finishing all his vegetables… but keep in mind that no amount of crunching will yield six-pack abs without first burning off the belly fat that covers them.
Later on in a client’s program when they get as lean as they’d like I will then add back in arms and abs -but definitely not before I help them burn off the excess body fat and build up their metabolism.
Credits to:Nutrition Data: Dieting & Weight Loss Blog