So you want bigger arms? Who doesn’t? The problem is that you don’t fully understand how to build your arms up and all the necessary movements to make this happen. While we use many techniques to reshape and build the Bi’s and Tri’s below you will find 5 key concepts to give FAST and effective results.
#1
Monstrous size
You want size? Start
hitting the Back, Chest, and Shoulders. The
reason: One key function of the arms is
to take all the power from the major body parts and transfer that power to an object. How often do you see a 400lb bench with tiny
triceps? 600lb deadlifter with small
forearms and no biceps? How about this,
go grab a pair of 80lb dumbbells and hold them for one minute. What hurts first, your shoulders and back or
your arms? Heavy weights in compound
movements will insanely speed up your arm size.
What’s my favorite way to do this?
Heavy Holds! Post deadlift day I’ll
just grab heavy weights and hold them for time or failure then REPEAT until
everything is drained. Grab some 45lb bumper
plates and hold them until you can’t, I can promise you that your forearms will
get a better workout doing that than any reverse curl workout.
On your next Back/Deadlift day try this:
45 seconds on 45 seconds off
Heavy Dumbbell holds for 5 sets
#2
Volume and lots of it
On arm day I suggest going for the supersets, trisets, and
monster sets. Take 2-5 exercises and
combine them for 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps.
The pump you get from set 1 will become addicting. Your first 15 minutes in the gym could have
your arms heating up so much that you’d think you were one hour in. I typically tend to start my arm days with
barbell curls as a warm up that slowly gets heavier supersetted with one or two
tricep exercises then quickly move into dumbbells, lots and lots of
dumbbells. The goal should be 18-25
total sets of biceps and 18-25 total sets of triceps (sometimes more). That is a crazy amount of sets for one workout,
like up to 50 total sets combined. This
is another perk of supersets. 50 sets is
a lot but not when 1 total set is made up for 5 individual sets. Lets say you do the following: Dumbbell
Curls, Hammer Curls, Tricep Overhead Extension, Tricep Kickbacks, Crossover Curls
for 5x15. That would be 5 individual
sets per total set or 25 individual sets at the end of just that one routine (15
biceps and 10 triceps). Post this I would suggest dropping down to
smaller supersets, maybe 1 bicep and 2 triceps, 1 of each, or even 2 exercises
for just one body part giving the other section of the arms some rest.
On your next Arm Day try this:
Walk in with a goal of 25-30 total sets of biceps and 25-30
total sets of triceps. 30 is a bit of a
high number that you will not need to/want to repeat too often but if you complete
this the next time you train your arms you will feel a pump like never before.
#3
Vary the angles
This goes beyond changing the incline of the bench or the
placement of your hands. In regard to placement,
I prefer my hands to be centered to my Traps for triceps but for biceps I am
all over the place. Inner curls, outer curls,
standard grip, just always changing and hitting every type of placement in each
exercise. Just don’t get stuck doing the
same thing each time. For instance,
during some bicep exercises I might change the angle during the actual
lift. My beginning placement might be arms
outside the leg and I could end with my right arm crossing over to my left
shoulder or maybe move 5 inches outwards from my right shoulder. Vary everything. Each angle, arm placement, and twist of the
wrist could greatly change the outcome of your arms.
On your next Arm Day try this:
Do a crossover Bicep Curl with a dumbbell where you start at
your side then go across to your opposite pec.
Next, tap your opposite pec with the dumbbell then your sternum, then the
pec on the side of your body that is completing the rep. That makes for 3 pumps/taps in 3 different
spots of the bicep. Lets say you do 12
reps of these for 3 sets, that would be 36 mini pumps per set or 108 per arm at
the end of the 3rd set.
#4
Grip
This taps back into reason #1. Blast your grip. Again, I prefer farmers holds and plate holds
during deadlift days, but I am always hitting my grip on bicep day. A weak grip will prevent you from finishing
an arm day. Before the big muscles give
out you will be at risk of quitting due to weak wrist and forearms. For my arm day workouts, I use grip
attachments, thick bars, and the head of the dumbbell for certain curls.
Looking for grip help?
Check out this product that we use at the club which can easily fit in a gym bag:
Try this on your next Arm Day:
Stand the dumbbell up like you would for a Hammer Curl but
don’t grab the handle, grab the head of the dumbbell. You will need lighter dumbbells for this due
to the size of your hands and the difficulty of the exercise. Start curling. This is gonna hurt fast. You should end up rep at the top in a T-Rex
type arm placement. Just get ready to burn
out and move on.
#5
Often and consistency
How often? Well that
depends on your goals and schedule but if you are trying 5 days a week I would
suggest 2 of those days be arm day. If
you are down to 3 days a week maybe do 1 full arm day on Friday after a Monday
Back/Shoulder with biceps at the end and a Wednesday Leg and Chest day with
Triceps at the end. This is just one suggested
split, you can really go into any style and find success. Monday: Back/Chest Tri’s and Bi’s - Wednesday: Leg/Shoulders Tri’s – Friday:
Armageddon. Mix it up and find what
works for you.
Before your next Arm Day:
Write down your plan.
How many days a week? Body
splits? Sets/Reps/Routine? Get a plan
and go with it.
SAMPLE ROUTINE
1: Superset
A: Barbell Curls
B: Triceps Rope Pulldowns
4x15 (Total sets: Biceps x 4 – Triceps x 4)
2: Triset
A: Dumbbell Alternating Curls with twist at top
B: Hammer Curls
C: Dumbbell Triceps Overhead Extension (1 dumbbell both
hands)
4x15 (Total sets: Biceps x 12 – Triceps x 8)
3: Monster Set
A: Incline Curls
B: Crossover Curls
C: Alternating Incline Triceps Crossover Extensions
D: Triceps Kickbacks
5x10 (Total Sets: Biceps x 22 – Triceps x 18)
4: Monster Set
A: Close Grip Curls
B: Wide Grip Curls
C: Standing Alternating Overhead Extensions
D: Standing Alternating Overhead Crossover Extensions
4x10 (Total sets: Biceps x 32 – Triceps x 28)
5: Weak Point Training / Burnout
Pick any bicep section that needs work and a triceps section
that needs work and do 2 sets of 21’s for this exercise
Total sets: Biceps x 34 – Triceps x 30
No comments:
Post a Comment