Walk into any busy gym across America and you'll find dozens of bodybuilding trainees fervently performing their arm bodybuilding workouts in order to further develop the arm muscles. There they are, pumping out set after set of barbell curls. Why does it seem that in bodybuilding the arms are the most desirable muscle group to develop? It could be because a set of well-developed, muscular arms is arguably the most visible sign that you are strong and fit. It tells the world that you work out. And since you can’t go out and buy a great set of arms, it also tells people that you’ve worked hard to get those arms. There’s a lot of personal satisfaction in that.
All men admire well-developed arms, whether their egos allow them to admit it or not. Women love feeling the power in their partner’s strong arms. And children feel safe when held by a father with strong arms. Let’s face it, we love our strong, muscular arms!
Arms are not that difficult to build, yet there are many frustrated trainees out there that can’t seem to get it right. It seems that no matter what they try, they can’t get those arms to budge the tape measure. If you belong to this frustrated multitude, fret no longer. Once you understand the concepts behind building a great pair of arms, and have the right tools, it’s only a matter of time before wearing a tight polo shirt puts a smile on your face.
I am going to share my best arm training routine with you. You may be surprised to learn how simple it is, but it’s not unusual for even advanced trainees to put two or more inches on their arms with this powerful program. Sound interesting? Read on…
The Basics of Arm Training
Training the arms can be broken primarily into triceps training, followed by biceps training. We’ll start with the triceps. That’s because the triceps are the larger of the two muscle groups. Finding someone with great development in the triceps muscle group is more difficult than finding someone with great biceps. Why?
Well for one thing, it takes focused concentration and near-perfect form to build truly powerful and massive triceps. And let's be honest, many people neglect their triceps in favor of the more "glamorous" biceps. And that's a big mistake. You see, the three muscles that make up your triceps compose a whopping two-thirds of the bulk of your upper arm. So if you really want to build impressive "guns," your best bet is to take your triceps training very seriously.
Now before I unveil my routine, let’s look at the “big picture.” My entire workout schedule looks like this:
Workout frequency: 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 1 off
This means I workout two days in a row, followed by one day of rest. Then, I workout another day, followed by another day off. Then I repeat this sequence. I never train with weights more than two days in a row because I find that I build muscle faster if I allow one day in between in order to provide enough time to recuperate. On the day off, I will hit the cardio exercises to stimulate circulation, which in turn speeds up recuperation and growth. By the way, if you're not making steady gains with your current program, try adding a few extra rest days each week. You may actually gain more by training less!
Okay, Here's how my typical workout schedule looks:
Day #1: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Day #2: Back/Biceps/Abs
Day #3: Rest Day
Day #4: Quads/Hamstrings/Calves
Day #5: Rest Day
Then I repeat.
Now, you can certainly adapt this workout schedule to fit your specific needs. For example: If you want to take off the weekend from weight training (and many people do) then try 2 on, 1 off, 2 on, 2 off. Then repeat. This way you'll have Wednesday along with Saturday and Sunday off each week. (The extra day of rest may be good for you!)
Moving along, here are 10 things, which you must do to make this bodybuilding workout as effective as possible:
- Keep track of your workouts using a training log. If you don’t have a log, you can write on a wall calendar. Throw it in your workout bag.
- Use as much weight as possible for the prescribed number of repetitions on each exercise. Strive to increase your training poundage by a little each week.
- Perform each set to “positive failure”, the point at which you cannot perform another unassisted repetition. If you're going to complete failure, you will need to drop the weight by 10% after each set in order to get all the reps.
- Take 1-2 minutes rest between sets.
- The total length of your workout should not exceed 60 minutes, including initial warm-up. That works out to about 15-20 minutes per body part.
- If you're a beginner, drop one set from each exercise and concentrate on form instead of going for the heavy poundage. (You'll thank me later!)
- Use strict form on all exercises.
- Minimize stress and try to get 8 to 9 hours of sleep each night.
- The enemy of arm development is over-training. Doing too much will stunt your progress. Resist the temptation to do more.
- Follow a proper nutrition and supplementation program. No workout program in the world is going to work unless you have the right nutritional support. In order to accomplish this, the use of MRP’s, RTD's and protein bars in conjuction to three real meals per day is invaluable. I personally use Lean Body, at least three times per day myself and I promise you, it makes a huge difference. Plus it makes it extremely easy for me to get my six meals per day.
