The favorite day of the boys in the gym – arms day!
Well-built arms have been the symbol of masculinity since the dawn of the glorious sport of body building. Big arms will get you the respect among boys and attractiveness among girls. Every gym beginner pictures himself the moment he steps in the house of gains flexing his bicep the size of a mountain, just like Arnold.
The first thing you need to do on your road to bigger arms is to be real with yourself and to expect real results. You can’t expect to have a bicep the size of your head if you genetically have a small one. What you absolutely can expect is to make it bigger than it is now.
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Training Program
There is a lot of programs and speculations when it comes to training arms. Some exercise bicep with back, triceps with chest, while others give arms their own day. These programs are the most popular ones, and both of them can work, but if you really want to put some extra effort and you consider your arms to be your weakest point, then I have something different for you in mind.
Let’s start with the basics. Arms are a small muscle group, and being that, they can be exercised more than once a week. And I’m urging you to exercise them twice a week if you want to get the best results. Arms can recover very quickly and by having two arm days can speed up your process of the mass building twice.
Give the arms their own day, make it a 30-minute workout, half for biceps, half for triceps. Before jumping into specific workouts and program details, you have to overcome the proper posture.
You will see a lot of guys in the gym having incorrect postures while performing dumbbell and barbell curls. They twist their back, swinging forward and backward and by doing this, they put more work on their back and shoulders than on the biceps. This is happening because most of the guys exercise their ego instead of their muscles.
Know your weights. If you can’t perform the move properly, scale it down. You won’t stimulate your arms to grow by transferring the weight on your back and shoulders anyway, so reduce the weight until you can do the workout correctly. Full range motion is very important, only once you learn how to keep the correct form you can proceed to put your muscles to a serious test.
A lot of your gym buddies will tell you to do 8-10 reps, which is fine, but I found that you can get better results in the mass building from 10-12 reps. Set the weight so that the last two reps are the hardest ones. On the twelfth rep, your muscles should come to cancellation. Three sets and 10-12 reps are what we’re going to do in every exercise.
Biceps
1. Barbell curls
Barbell curls are pretty standard biceps exercise, just remember to keep that form right. What is specific from one person to another is how their biceps is built. Take a look at your biceps standing in front of the mirror with your hands to your side. Take a close look where do you miss the mass the most.
The inner part of the arm or the outer? This is important because you can create the symmetry by the way you grip the bar. If you want to work on the inner part, put your elbows on your side and hands a bit more apart. When you lift the bar, your hands should be right beside your outer side of the shoulders.
If the outer part of the hand is your concern, then use the same process just bring your hands closer together. When you lift the weight, your hands should touch your chest. Some people might have a problem with this grip on the flat bar, use the E-Z bar instead to make your wrists more comfortable.
However, if you think your symmetry is fine, then use the standard movement where your hands go in line with your shoulders.
2. Incline Dumbbell Curls
Incline Dumbbell Curls should be performed with your entire body relaxed except your biceps. Make yourself comfortable and put your whole back on the seat. Put your hands to your sides at the 90-degree angle and keep them that way while you lift the dumbbells. The only movement should be in your elbow, keep your shoulders fixed. You can move both arms simultaneously or first one than the other; it makes no difference.
3. One-Arm High Cable Curl
One-Arm High Cable Curl is a good basic isolation exercise. For the first time, it would be the best to stand in front of the mirror and perfect the movement. Start without the cable at first; then you will know how to adjust the height of the cable. Lift your arm up beside your body at the 90-degree angle with your palm facing up. Fix your arm so that the only movement is in your elbow. Flex your hand all the way to your shoulder and move it back all the way until it’s straight. Complete the entire movement, don’t do it short because it can result in a short biceps.
Triceps
1. Triceps Press-Down
Triceps Press-Down can be performed with a V-bar or a rope. The type of the bar comes to personal preference, but I would recommend you to grab a rope since it gives you more movement, and you will develop a stronger grip as well.
The right posture in this exercise is standing in front of the machine with your back slightly tilted forward, and your knees slightly bent. Keep your elbows in front of your hips the whole time. Press the weight all the way down and bring it back until your forearms are at a 90-degree angle. Keep your shoulders fixed and the hands away from your body. That will make the weight heavier and the exercise more effective.
2. One-Arm Overhead Cable Extension
One-Arm Overhead Cable Extension is a good substitute for the same workout performed with a dumbbell. The difference is, the cable doesn’t put that much pressure on your wrists as the dumbbell would. In a sitting position grab the cable behind your head with one arm, then proceed to pull it all the way until your arm is straight. Go back until your elbow is at the 90-degree angle. Keep your back straight and your hand fixed in the shoulder.
3. Close-Grip Bench Press
Close-Grip Bench Press is considered the best exercise for triceps strength and mass development. The movement is the same as the regular flat bench press, just with the closer grip. You will probably see guys performing this exercise with a very narrow grip, but I recommend that you use a wide shoulder grip. Both grips affect the triceps the same, but only very close grip puts the stress on the wrists.
Remember Before You Forget
Remember to use three sets of every exercise in this program with 10-12 reps. Also, pay attention to your nutrition, no workout is going to make your arms bigger if you don’t eat properly. Ignore all the guys that are exercising their ego, and reduce the weight if you can’t manage to perform the movement correctly. I’m assuring you, that you will make bigger gains with smaller weight and proper posture than with the bigger weights and uncontrolled movements.
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