chrispghmuscle
02-26-2009, 04:29 PM
by Lester Maurice
We all know when someone says "show me a muscle!", it doesn't mean pull up your pants leg and give 'em a calf shot. Your friends want to see a peaked bicep with a well-rounded tricep bulging down.
It's funny, on occasion, I'll read a muscle mag and come across a feature on "How to Build Mighty Biceps" by a top pro that begins the article by stating that he doesn't really train his arms that hard or that often. "They just grew...", or "they were getting so big, I stopped training them directly altogether." Can you believe that stuff? What's he doing writing an arm article to begin with? Makes as much sense as taking boxing lessons from Mike Tyson. Don't just assume the kid with the giant guns at the gym knows what he's doing. Yet often times these are the people beginners ask for advice. If you really think doing twenty sets each for biceps and triceps, three to four times a week is going to help you develop big muscular arms, we know someone that would love to sell you some beachfront property in Arizona !
In your quest to develop impressive biceps and triceps you must first understand that only focusing on training these two bodyparts is a big mistake. When was the last time you saw a 350 pound bench presser with 14" pipes? All of your upper-body torso exercises rely heavily on arm strength and power. The more intensity you generate when performing military presses, bent-over rows and incline barbell presses, the more strength and size your arms will develop. It's necessary to concentrate on your major upper-body compound movements. This is the reason we limit the number of direct sets for arms that you perform in our overall training program.
Blazing Guns Arm Routine
This routine is short but very intense. If you have less than six months of training experience, this may be something to save for later use. Let's get on with it!
The first movement is the incline dumbbell curl for three sets.
Set the incline bench at 45 degrees. Sit back and curl the dumbbells together. Key point - start the movement with your palms facing up and, as you curl, twist and supinate your hands further so your pinky turns all the way towards you and squeeze. On the first set, warm up and go 12-15 reps. On the second set perform 8-10 reps with 85% of your regular workout weight. On the third set, lift 100% of your maximum to reach 6 reps and hold at the top of the movement for five seconds. Then let the weights slowly swing down and cheat them up and hold and squeeze at the top. After that perform modified reps by lowering the dumbbells a couple of inches from your shoulders and contracting back up again. Continue the partial reps until you completely exhaust the muscle.
The second exercise is the straight barbell curl with a shoulder width grip.
On the first set, warm up with l0-15 reps, keeping your body straight. On your second set, perform 6-8 reps while keeping your torso relatively steady. On the third set, use the same weight as your second set, only now you're going after 15-20 reps! Start your set and when you begin to fail, swing your body slightly (cheating) to get the weight up. When you can't get another rep, have your partner help you with 2-3 forced reps. When you're done with forced reps, grab a lighter bar - about 70% of your previous weight - and continue curling until you complete all 15-20 reps. The pump in your biceps will make a good cushion for your triceps exercises.
The first tricep exercise is the close-grip bench press. Using a thumbless grip, place your hands 12-14 inches apart. Keep your elbows close to your torso throughout the movement. On the first set, warm up with 12-15 reps. On the second set, go right to 8-10 reps using 85% of your regular training weight. On the third set, go to 6 reps where you actually fail and your partner has to pull the bar off your chest. When the bar has been lifted up in the starting position, hold it there as long as you can. Many trainees can maintain that static/contracted position for 20 seconds or more. What a burn!
The final movements are reverse-grip bench presses on the Smith machine. Place a flat bench under a Smith machine and lie down, gripping the bar shoulder width apart with your knuckles pointing toward your feet. Perform 3 sets, warming up on the first set, going 12-15 reps. On the second set, perform 10-12 reps and on the third set, go 8-10 reps, performing 2-3 forced reps when you've failed. That's it. Six sets for biceps and triceps performed using this routine will produce a deep ache in your muscle fibers and give you a taste of the type of training that's required to develop some serious guns. Good luck and let us know how it works for you!
We all know when someone says "show me a muscle!", it doesn't mean pull up your pants leg and give 'em a calf shot. Your friends want to see a peaked bicep with a well-rounded tricep bulging down.
It's funny, on occasion, I'll read a muscle mag and come across a feature on "How to Build Mighty Biceps" by a top pro that begins the article by stating that he doesn't really train his arms that hard or that often. "They just grew...", or "they were getting so big, I stopped training them directly altogether." Can you believe that stuff? What's he doing writing an arm article to begin with? Makes as much sense as taking boxing lessons from Mike Tyson. Don't just assume the kid with the giant guns at the gym knows what he's doing. Yet often times these are the people beginners ask for advice. If you really think doing twenty sets each for biceps and triceps, three to four times a week is going to help you develop big muscular arms, we know someone that would love to sell you some beachfront property in Arizona !
In your quest to develop impressive biceps and triceps you must first understand that only focusing on training these two bodyparts is a big mistake. When was the last time you saw a 350 pound bench presser with 14" pipes? All of your upper-body torso exercises rely heavily on arm strength and power. The more intensity you generate when performing military presses, bent-over rows and incline barbell presses, the more strength and size your arms will develop. It's necessary to concentrate on your major upper-body compound movements. This is the reason we limit the number of direct sets for arms that you perform in our overall training program.
Blazing Guns Arm Routine
This routine is short but very intense. If you have less than six months of training experience, this may be something to save for later use. Let's get on with it!
The first movement is the incline dumbbell curl for three sets.
Set the incline bench at 45 degrees. Sit back and curl the dumbbells together. Key point - start the movement with your palms facing up and, as you curl, twist and supinate your hands further so your pinky turns all the way towards you and squeeze. On the first set, warm up and go 12-15 reps. On the second set perform 8-10 reps with 85% of your regular workout weight. On the third set, lift 100% of your maximum to reach 6 reps and hold at the top of the movement for five seconds. Then let the weights slowly swing down and cheat them up and hold and squeeze at the top. After that perform modified reps by lowering the dumbbells a couple of inches from your shoulders and contracting back up again. Continue the partial reps until you completely exhaust the muscle.
The second exercise is the straight barbell curl with a shoulder width grip.
On the first set, warm up with l0-15 reps, keeping your body straight. On your second set, perform 6-8 reps while keeping your torso relatively steady. On the third set, use the same weight as your second set, only now you're going after 15-20 reps! Start your set and when you begin to fail, swing your body slightly (cheating) to get the weight up. When you can't get another rep, have your partner help you with 2-3 forced reps. When you're done with forced reps, grab a lighter bar - about 70% of your previous weight - and continue curling until you complete all 15-20 reps. The pump in your biceps will make a good cushion for your triceps exercises.
The first tricep exercise is the close-grip bench press. Using a thumbless grip, place your hands 12-14 inches apart. Keep your elbows close to your torso throughout the movement. On the first set, warm up with 12-15 reps. On the second set, go right to 8-10 reps using 85% of your regular training weight. On the third set, go to 6 reps where you actually fail and your partner has to pull the bar off your chest. When the bar has been lifted up in the starting position, hold it there as long as you can. Many trainees can maintain that static/contracted position for 20 seconds or more. What a burn!
The final movements are reverse-grip bench presses on the Smith machine. Place a flat bench under a Smith machine and lie down, gripping the bar shoulder width apart with your knuckles pointing toward your feet. Perform 3 sets, warming up on the first set, going 12-15 reps. On the second set, perform 10-12 reps and on the third set, go 8-10 reps, performing 2-3 forced reps when you've failed. That's it. Six sets for biceps and triceps performed using this routine will produce a deep ache in your muscle fibers and give you a taste of the type of training that's required to develop some serious guns. Good luck and let us know how it works for you!