Nothing grabs the average passerby’ s attention more than a great set of guns. Arms that fill out a T-shirt are the desire of almost everyone who has ever touched a weight and yearned to pack on muscle. Summer is here, and it’ s time to strip off the bulky outerwear and show off your hard work for all to see.
The cold months are over, and hopefully you’ ve done your homework. You’ ve most likely focused on the big, compound lifts for gains in strength and bulky size. When it’ s time to define, develop, and shred, you want your arms to shine. But what if after all that toil in the gym you find that your guns are more like squirt guns than cannons? What if you’ ve curled away and performed every pressdown in the book but still have less than impressive artillery to show for it?
Curling For Days Most lifters live and die by the biceps curl. Additionally, they normally finish an arm day with a few sets of cable pressdowns thrown in at the end. Barbell, dumbbell, concentration, and preacher curls will all make an appearance at some point on your arm-lifting docket along with rope, V-bar, overhead, and reverse-grip cable pressdowns.
Set after set and rep after rep you strain, squeeze, and pummel your arms into submission without much added muscle. Something’ s amiss. You definitely need a new approach to training your biceps and triceps. Let’ s take a look at a completely different( but not so new) perspective on arm growth.
Do Your Homework Right The first order of business is to make sure you’ re using the big, compound lifts for chest, back, and shoulder work. Lifting big weight and focusing on strength, at least temporarily, will add size naturally to your arms. Ask yourself: Have you ever seen someone perform countless pull-ups and row a ton of weight with tiny biceps? How about those who bench press or shoulder press big numbers? Do they have wimpy triceps? You need to concentrate on the big lifts so that your arms will be passively exposed to intense loads.
Secondly, let’ s ditch the ultra-focused arm training for the time being and cut down on the volume of work. Scared? Don’ t be. You won’ t shrink overnight. If anything, you’ ll give your overworked biceps and triceps and little breather while exposing them to new, growth-inducing stimulation.
Alternative Exercises Arm curls and triceps cable work are wonderful things— they just need to be thought of as finishers rather than major lifts. Think of it this way: After multiple sets of bench presses, pull-ups, and rows your arms are spent. Do you think they need a heavy day all to themselves full of isolation exercises, or do they simply need some additional moves to finish off an already stimulating workout?
Following are four alternative biceps and triceps exercises to add to your arm arsenal without the mindless curling and pressdowns that have given you little-to-nothing in return. IM
The Workout Below is a sample alternative arm program you can put to instant use. Perform each workout once per week for a total of two arm workouts every seven days.
The Workout 1
Superset: Rack Curl and Rack Triceps Press
Superset: Kettlebell Static Hold and Plate-Loaded Triceps Bench Dip
The Workout 2
Superset: Biceps Pull-Up and Suspension Trainer Triceps Press
Superset: Rope Pull and Weighted Triceps Parallel Dip With One-And-A-Half Reps
3-4 sets of as many reps as possible
3-4 sets of 30 seconds for static hold and 10-15 reps for dips
3-4 sets of as many reps as possible
3-4 sets of 30 seconds for static hold and 10-15 reps for dips
60
60
60
60
KAI SPENCER
AGE: 33 LIVES: Los Angeles, CA PROFESSION: Kaiser Permanente Communications Operator LIKES: Reading, the gym DISLIKES: Arrogant people FAVORITE DRINK: Diet Coke or sugar-free Red Bull Favorite Movie: 300 ULTIMATE VACATION: Costa Rica WHO WOULD YOU CAST TO PLAY YOURSELF IN A MOVIE? Will Smith DESERT ISLAND EXERCISES: Overhead skull crushers, bench presses, squats FAVORITE CHARITY OR CAUSE: Anything with dogs SPONSORS: Darc Sport, SteelFit
INSTAGRAM: kai _ spencer _
EXERCISE WORKING SETS REST AFTER EACH SUPERSET
EXERCISE WORKING SETS REST AFTER EACH SUPERSET
46 JUNE 2017 | ironmanmagazine. com