What Is Around The World Exercise
Around the world, exercise is valued by athletes who are tired of bench presses but still want to target their chest and shoulder muscles. The workout traditionally belongs to the intermediate level. But easy technique and usage of light weights make it suitable for beginners too. You’ll need a flat bench and a pair of dumbbells to practice the movement. It’s an excellent isolation workout for the chest, which also can be used as a warm-up before more challenging upper body exercises.
What Muscles Does Around The World Exercise Work
Many people neglect to train their chest muscles from all angles, but that may be corrected by practicing around the world exercise. You’ll be utilizing relatively light weights to train the shoulder joint through its full range of motion.
Dumbbell around the planets is an excellent example of an isolation exercise because although there is a lot of movement, it all occurs at a single joint. The primary muscle groups used for the workout are:
- Clavicular head of the pectoralis major
- Sternocostal head of the pectoralis major
While the pecs are loaded and moved, they also involve shoulder flexion and rotation. It means the deltoids, biceps, and triceps are also worked during the exercise.
How to Perform Around The World Exercise
With these pieces of advice in mind, you may get the most out of your workout and minimize the chance of harm.
Step 1. Get into the starting position
Pick up dumbbells and lie down. Use a special flat bench if possible. The next step is raising the weights above the chest level. Your arms should be slightly bent but firm and stable. Spread your arms wide with your palms facing up and descend the dumbbells until your hands are below your shoulders.
Step 2. Sweep and swing
Sweep the weights behind and up until they meet over your head without touching each other. Make sure the barbells are always perpendicular to the ground. The next step is to bring dumbbells down to the area above your hips.
Step 3. Do reps
The sweeping motion with the weights may be repeated for as long or as many times as you choose. Be cautious and slow in your movements to maintain tension in the intended muscles.
5 Around The World Exercise Alternatives
1. Standing Dumbbell Around The World
This standing variation loads trapezius and deltoids. Second, the movement targets the lats, pecs, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and major, abs, external and internal obliques, erector spinae, and rhomboids.
How to do a Standing dumbbell around the world:
- Grab a pair of dumbbells and stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your core and glutes tight.
- Rotate the dumbbells up above the head. The weights don’t have to touch.
- Come back bellow in a circular motion, coming back to your hips area.
- Keep an eye on the movement’s trajectory, don’t put your hands behind your back or too forward.
- Ensure your shoulder blades stay pinched back throughout the move.
2. Archer Push-ups
Archer push-ups are more effective in strengthening your triceps, pecs, and anterior deltoids because of the wider range of motion you employ while doing them. Holding the body rigid, controlled, and stable is crucial for this push-up.
How to do Archer push-ups:
- Get on all fours, and keep your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. Your feet can be together if you are an experienced athlete. Beginners can start with legs shoulder-width apart.
- Go down, rocking your body to one side. Pick yourself back up, using that one arm you pushed down before.
- Rotate to the other side and go down again. Come back up.
3. Dumbbell Squeeze Press
This workout builds functional strength and hypertrophy in the chest, triceps, and shoulders. The variation is useful for both bodybuilders and strength athletes due to the combination of continual strain, metabolic stress, and high tension.
How to do a Dumbbell squeeze press:
- Put the dumbbells on your thighs and lean back on the bench, lifting them with your legs.
- Grasp the dumbbells with both hands and squeeze. Consider the situation as if you were holding a piece of paper between weights. So it would help if you squeezed them at all times.
- As you push the dumbbells up, retract your shoulders to make a little arch in your back and exhale. Remember to keep your elbows tucked in.
- Next, lower the weights to your chest as slowly as possible.
- Keep your chest contracted and repeat the action.
4. Medicine Ball Pushup
Push-ups using a medicine ball are a total-body exercise. Exercises with a medicine ball have been shown to increase stamina, strength, and stability in the upper body. This workout strengthens pecs, delts, gluteal, and hamstring muscles when executed correctly.
How to do a Medicine ball push-up:
- Put your medicine ball in front of you and kneel.
- Make your hands in a diamond-shaped stance and put in on the ball. Your hands may slide down a bit, but try keeping them close together.
- Take the push-up position with your feet together and your body in a straight line.
- Come down over your chest, doing a push-up. Breathe out on the way up.
5. Svend Press
The Svend press is an isolated workout for the chest muscles. If conventional chest pressing hurts your shoulders, use the Svend press to make your chest bigger and stronger without putting too much strain on your delts. You’ll need two weight plates that you can grab with both to practice this movement.
How to do a Svend press:
- Standing straight with your shoulders back and your feet hip-width apart is the beginning position.
- Put two small plates against each other and hold them in front of you with both hands.
- Choose a grip with your palms facing in and your fingers pointing forward.
- As you slowly extend your arms in front of you, keep the plates in front of your chest.
- Set your weights on your chest and pull them back down once again.
- Keep your elbows bent 90 degrees. Your shoulders and chest will feel the load the most.
Conclusion
If you want to spice up your routine with not common pec isolation workout, the around the world exercise might be your perfect choice. The movement provides the maximum effect with low weights and increases your shoulder mobility. Easy technique, light dumbbells and great benefits make the exercise worth trying.