How to Do alternate dumbbell swims and dumbbell cross punches

Learn how to do alternate dumbbell swims and dumbbell cross punches. Presented by Real Jock Gay Fitness Health & Life.

Benefits

The back-to-front reach of a freestyle stroke followed by the lateral motion of cross punches trains the entire complex of muscles in the shoulder—deltoids and rotator muscles.

Exercise

1. From the starting position, sit in a modified squat position: Drop your hips slightly back, putting your weight in your heels and inclining your chest a bit forward. Your back should be flat and your shoulders no further forward than your knees. Let your arms hang down from the shoulder, with your palms facing down.

2. Keeping your back flat and your torso still, begin doing alternating freestyle swim strokes. Bring your right arm back as if you are doing a stroke of freestyle swimming. Your arm will naturally bend as you bring your elbow back. Be careful to keep the dumbbell in close to your body; allowing it to drop out too far can cause injury. As your right reaches the back end of its stroke, begin dropping your left arm to start its own stroke, while simultaneously lifting the right elbow up in an arc over the shoulder and pushing the right dumbbell back out to starting position. Your right arm should reach starting position just as your left arm reaches the back position. Do a total of 24 freestyle strokes (12 with each arm).

3. Next, move on to cross-punches. Staying in the modified squat, bend your elbows tight to your upper body and hold your hands near your chest, with your palms facing each other. Punch across your body with one arm as you pivot through your legs and drop slightly through the knee on the same side as the punching arm. Try to reach long with your punch, and support yourself through your core and legs. Return to center and repeat the punch with the other arm, again pivoting through your legs to follow your arm. Continue to alternate punches for a full set of 24 (12 with each arm).