George Foreman & Florence Griffith Joyner take turns answering questions on getting and staying in shape in this exclusive weekly column.

This week: George Foreman is your coach.

  Issue date:
August 4, 1996

[ Fitness Archive ]

USA WEEKEND Home  Site Index

Q: I challenged my 28-year-old son, a cement mason, to an arm-wrestling contest in three months. I've joined a gym and am progressing pretty well toward my goal. Other than the normal dumbbell machines, could you suggest exercises for arm-wrestling?

Dallas Evans, Bossier City, La.

Foreman: Good luck. My daughter Michi, who's 23 now, used to win at arm-wrestling with me when she was 16. She was arm-wrestling at school, challenging all the boys. She challenged me, and to my surprise, she got the best of me. Arm-wrestling is about 60 percent technique, and that was her secret. Once I had figured that out, Michi's glory days were over.

My tip: Be the first one to try to take the other guy down. Technique is what will get it. If you practice and get a good technique down, you definitely can beat a guy who's stronger.

Of course, it wouldn't hurt to shape up your arm-wrestling muscles. Arm-wrestling uses muscles in the fingers, wrist, forearms and shoulders. For your forearms, do reverse curls: Stand with a weight in each hand. Hold the weights with your palms down, facing your legs. Then curl the weight up slowly. Do three sets of 10.

To increase your wrist strength, do wrist curls: Tie a weight to a broom handle with a string. Then stand with your arms extended in front of you and hold the broom handle parallel to the ground. Using your wrists, turn the broom handle to wind up the string till the weight hits the handle. Then reverse, unwinding it. Do the whole exercise once with your wrists facing downward, and once with your wrists facing upward.

Pull-downs on a machine at the gym are good, too.

And please take care: You can really hurt yourself arm-wrestling. People often challenge me to arm-wrestle, but I don't accept. If you practice and get the technique down, you should be able to defeat your son (unless he's doing the same thing). Be careful - kids can pick up some stuff you never know about.

Q: My daughter and I both do aerobics while wearing ankle weights (2 to 5 pounds). Recently, though, I read that if you carry your weight in the hips and legs you shouldn't use ankle weights because they will build muscle and make your legs look bigger. Is this true?

Paula Egger, Merced, Calif.

Foreman: My introduction to ankle weights was in 1966, when I was 17. After wearing the weights for a week while shadowboxing and skipping rope, my legs felt lighter and my footwork was much better. But just a few weeks later, I wished I had never seen the miserable things. I developed nagging pain in my feet and ankles that I've carried throughout my career. It's true that ankle weights will build up muscle mass, especially in the thighs, but the increase probably won't be noticeable if you use the weights only for aerobics.

I'd recommend giving them up. They're just not worth it. You're better off putting in extra hours in the gym, making your workouts longer or more intense. Ankle weights put you at increased risk of injury by overloading the joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles. First come ankle weights, then come ankle wraps: ice and Ace bandages. If I'd never had that introduction to ankle weights, then certain pains I have had ever since never would have developed.

Write: Fitness, 1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22229-0012 (fax: 703-276-5518; e-mail: fitness@usaweekend.com). Please include your age and daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, not all will be answered.