I told my Nia Sister Jill that I wanted to post some exercises one can do with a weighted bar. Her comment on my one of my last posts helped encourage me. A couple of ways to use the weight bar is triceps extensions. You can stand or sit down, grasp the bar in an over hand grip, then carefully raise it over your head until your elbows are pointed towards the ceiling and the bar is behind your head, push the bar up. Concentrate on keeping your elbows pointing up at the ceiling. Don’t rock, sway, or use momentum to get the bar up and back down (behind your head). Be sure that the movement is smooth and controlled. Your core is tight. Abs contracted to assist in protecting your lower back. The movement is just from your elbows and you are moving your forearms. Your head does not move, the bar does not touch your head or your shoulders/neck.
This same thing can be translated into a lying down exercise. Elbows pointed up, forearms move. The triceps do the work do not let momentum move the weighted bar. In this position your core is still tight. Abs are contracted even while lying down. Also be careful not to let the bar hit you in the head.
You hands can be about shoulder width apart or close together. I like to adjust the width depending on how I am feeling. Another way to do this, depending upon the weight of your bar, you can rest one end of the bar on the ground. While this allows for the ground to assist you with the weight, I find that it requires me to have my wrist bent at an odd angle. Be very aware of your wrist if you are allowing one end of the bar to rest on the ground. You want to make certain that you are not injuring the rest. So experiment to find a comfortable position that does not put too much stress on it.
These are the same exercises that you might have done with dumbbells. Using the weight bar is just a different way of doing them.
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