7 Tips For Massive Arms

7 Tips For Massive Arms
By Charles Poliquin
Upper arm development is probably one of the most sought-after bodybuilding goals. I have yet to meet an elite pro bodybuilder pleased with his upper arm development, even though that arm development e !eeds the "#-in!h !ir!umferen!e. If you$ve been frustrated re!ently with your la!% of progress in upper arm development, follow any one of the seven tips given here and you are surely going to e perien!e new growth in re!ord time.
&. 'on$t train bi!eps with ba!% and tri!eps with !hest.
Training biceps after doing your back routine and training your triceps after a chest workout are antiquated training concepts. For example, when one does a full back workout, there's plenty of residual fatigue in the elbow flexors from all the chins, rows and pulldown exercises that drastically reduce the training poundages in all curling exercises, thus falling short of optimal loading for the elbow flexors. At this point, you are using loads that fall short of the optimal training zone for o erloading properly the contractile proteins. ! strongly suggest that in order to impro e the strength and size of your upper arms, they should be trained alone as a training unit. That leads us to point number two.
". Train using the double station system.

For e ery elbow flexion exercise, you should alternate an elbow extension exercise. " en though you may be thinking !'m #ust talking about supersetting biceps and triceps, ! beg to differ on a subtlety. $ith a superset, little or no rest is taken between the agonist and the antagonist muscles. !n the approach ! strongly endorse, ! prefer to use longer breaks between the two stations for the following reasons. %y ha ing the antagonistic pairs contracting alternately &e.g. flexion followed by extension' as opposed to agonist contractions alone &precontraction of antagonists', the ability of achie ing full motor unit acti ation &()A' in a muscle contraction may be enhanced when immediately preceded by a contraction of the antagonists. This has the added benefit of allowing you to double the workload per training unit. !t is important to alternate exercises working agonists muscles with exercises working antagonistic muscles together, while respecting long rest inter als. For example, after doing a *+( set of close grip triceps presses, rest two to three minutes, perform a hea y set for the antagonist muscle &i.e., *,-+( set of dumbbell curls for the biceps', rest another two to three minutes and repeat the procedure for the required number of sets. $ith double station training, you get the added benefit of making sure both sides of the #oints are equally loaded with optimal training loads, while in classic supersets, endurance le els may at times make the trainee compromise on utilizing the right amount of weight to o erload the contractile proteins. This is how supersets should ne er be done. Au contraire, ! think they are ery useful for bodybuilding purposes. The subtlety !'m suggesting here is to use longer rest inter als between the sets, so that greater loads can be used.
(. To gain arm strength, pause between reps.

Too often, trainees fail to make mass gains in their upper arms because their strength in biceps and triceps exercises has been stagnating for awhile. %ut, there is another way out. +esearch by /anadian exercise physiologists has shown that for a gi en
submaximal force of contraction, motor unit acti ation is greater for repeated &intermittent' than for sustained contractions. 0ausing between reps helps offset the oxygen debt associated with sustained contractions by arious mechanisms, one of which is allowing the remo al of waste products from the muscle cell that block the optimal neural dri e. This type of intra,set rest allows for the recruitment of higher threshold motor units, which is essential for strength gains. (ake sure these pauses are no more than 12 seconds in length and are taken where muscles can rest, such as when your arms are outstretched. !f you ha e a high fast,twitch make,up, ! recommend going toward 13,12,second breaks between reps, pro ided you do not do more than six reps total per set. !f you are leaning more toward ha ing a slow,twitch fiber make,up, pausing three seconds between reps should suffice, pro ided you do not do more than 14 reps total per set.
). 'on$t negle!t the forearms.

$hen a bodybuilder complains of stagnation in mass and strength gains in the elbow flexors, ! often recommend adding some direct grip and forearm work. $hen you include direct forearm and grip work, your curling poundages go up because a few forearm muscles, such as flexor carpi radialis, contribute to elbow flexion5 this leads to furthering biceps and brachialis de elopment. As you know by now, hea ier weights mean greater o erload on the muscular structure, and greater o erload on the muscular structure means greater hypertrophy. "lite bodybuilders of the sixties, /huck 6ipes and 7arry 6cott, were known for handling 8erculean weights in curling exercises. They were ery strong proponents of complementary forearm training for upper arm de elopment. The other added benefit is that the aesthetics of your upper arms will also be enhanced. Frequently, doing three sets each of wrist flexors work, wrist extensor work and grip work, #olts one's progress to new le els. A sample tri,set could look like this9 A,1 ":,bar handle low palms up , $rist /urls * x 12,43 reps on a 4313 tempo5 rest -2 seconds. A,4 ":,bar handle low palms down , $rist /urls * x 12,43 reps on a 4313 tempo5 rest -2 seconds. A,* ;ripping (achine * x 13,14 reps on a 431* tempo5 rest -2 seconds. As you can see from the tempo, you'd isometrically hold the contraction for three seconds when the hands are closed. For the two types of low pulley wrist curls, the Tribar company makes a ery interesting handle with rotating slee e. The shape of the grip makes for a more ergonomic and comfortable position. +ecently, <orian =ates isited my training site for soft tissue work and he was quite intrigued with the Tribar handles. $hen doing grip work, stay away from choppy reps. $hen you are lowering the grip handles, make sure on e ery rep that the handles are at the ery tip of your fingers so it will feel like you're #ust about to lose your grip. This will insure a greater range of motion, thus greater de elopment. >nce the handles are brought back together, squeeze with all your might. ?eep in mind that one of the fastest ways to impro e your forearm size and gripping strength instantly is to forego the use of lifting straps when training the upper body.
*. Train your traps.

$hy does trap size ha e anything to do with arm size and strength.
According to <r. "rnie 8ackett, </, former $orld 0owerlifting /hampion, the stability of the cer icothoracic #unction is critical for optimizing the neural and ascular supply to the upper arms. !n his opinion, if the arm's muscle mass is not balanced with the trapezius and deltoid de elopment, the sheer weight of the arms will block its neural dri e because the proper alignment of the upper extremities will be faulty. Adding some direct trap work on upper back training day should do the trick. %est choices for exercises would include one arm shrug with dumbbell or low pulley, which permits greater range of motion than raising both scapulae at the same time. Another great exercise for trap de elopment is the power snatch from mid,thigh.
+. ,ive the +-&"-"* method a try.

! was first exposed to the elements of this system by the works of <r. Fred 8atfield and <on +oss who, needless to say, ha e considerable experience with the many aspects of training methodology. Trainees experience superb gains when they gi e this method a try. !n this ariation of the drop set method, ! ha e added some slight twist to further enhance hypertrophy. !t consists of doing a hea y set of six reps. Take a 13,second break, switch the exercise and do 13,14 reps. Take a 13,second break, switch to a new exercise and perform an agonizing 42 reps with it. After this, a much needed two,minute break is required before the cycle is repeated once, and at most, twice. >ne should expect to ha e to decrease the load between 13 to 43 percent for the second cycle to meet the desired repetitions brackets. For the six rep sets, ! prefer exercises in which the muscles are in a pre,stretched position, as in incline curls for the biceps and o erhead low pulley extensions for the triceps. For the 13,14 rep sets, ! prefer to use exercises that o erload the mid,range of the strength cur e, such as barbell curls for the biceps and dips for the triceps. For the 42 rep sets, machines or pulley de ices that offer a more uniform tension on the muscles throughout the range of motion work ery well. !t will take some experimenting at first to determine the right load, but once you ha e dialed into it, it's extremely effecti e for building large muscular arms.
7. -pe!ifi! bra!hialis training.

The brachialis muscle is a widely neglected muscle in the bodybuilding world. 8owe er, e ery single bodybuilder who has phenomenal arm de elopment sports a pair of fully de eloped brachialis muscles. $hen you see +onnie /oleman do his back double biceps pose, his brachialis muscles are the tennis ball,shaped muscles you see between his triceps and biceps muscles. The brachialis muscle is better known among kinesiologists as the workhorse of elbow flexion. That is, it works in all elbow flexion mo ements, whether the forearm is pronated, supinated, or in between. $hen the forearm is supinated &palms,up grip', the biceps ha e an effecti e line of pull. 8owe er, when the forearm is pronated &palms,down grip', the biceps is rather ineffecti e in flexing the elbow. $hen your forearm is pronated, the brachialis takes the toll and pulls the resistance almost alone. !n order to ob#ecti ely measure your brachialis muscle, you need specific work. ;o on the 6cott bench and curl fi e or six reps with maximum weight on the barbell curls with a supinated grip. After a 13,minute rest, you should be able to re erse curl with an ": bar @A percent of that weight for fi e or six reps. !f you cannot do so, your brachialis muscle will need specific muscle work. !f you don't already do one of the arious forms of re erse curls as part of your workout, adding it could surely result in 1B4 to one full inch of arm growth in a month's timeC
(ake sure to always perform at least one specific brachialis exercise when training your upper arms. =our arsenal of brachialis exercises in the arms race include9 re erse 6cott curls &wide or narrow grip, low pulley or ": bar', hammer curls, ;aspari bar curls, :ottmann curls &seated or one arm at a time on the 6cott bench'. !f you ha e neglected your brachialis muscles, here's a ery good program to pack size on them. This program in ol es what is called a post,exhaustion system. That is where you do a compound &multiple #oint' exercise that recruits a lot of motor units, and follow it immediately with a superior isolation exercise that also taps well into the motor unit pool. Dust by the amount of delayed onset muscle soreness you will get from this routine on your first go at it, you will be con inced of its efficacy at building large muscular arms. The routine looks like this9 0ost,"xhaustion /ycle A,1 Earrow ;rip 0ronated 0ull,)ps - x -,A reps F -313 tempo A,4 0ause 6tanding +e erse /urls - x A,G reps F *413 tempo +est 13 seconds between A,1 and A,4 +est three minutes between A,4 and A,1 +est 13 seconds between %,1 and %,4 +est three minutes between %,4 and %,1 .otes/ H The narrow grip pronated pull,ups are done palms pronated &facing away' and the grip width is four to six inches between the two thumbs. $hen you are resting the 13 seconds between the narrow grip pronated pull,up and the re erse curls, that should be the time it takes you to go from the pull,up bar to the ": bar. At the end of 13 seconds, you should be curling the bar. !n other words, keep the 13, second inter al strict. !f strong enough, use additional weight tied to a chinBdip belt for extra resistance. H For the re erse curls, the pause should be taken at *3 degrees of elbow flexion, which will increase the specific recruitment of the brachialis muscle. %e sure to fully stretch the elbow flexors at the bottom on each of the reps of the re erse curls. /url the bar, keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor for at least the first I3 degrees of elbow flexion. This is to minimize anterior deltoid recruitment. After I3 degrees of flexion, particularly if the bar is hea y, your elbows will tend to mo e forward slightly. As long you keep the first I3 degrees clean, you will maximize isolation of the elbow flexors. %y the same token, being too fixated about keeping the upper arm perpendicular to the floor through the full range of motion will only ser e to acti ate the rear delts. H >n the first workout of this routine, it's normal to lose a lot of strength e ery succeeding superset. For example, you may be able to do six pull,ups with a 42,pounder supersetted with eight reps with G3 pounds on the bar in the first set. %y the fourth set, you may only squeeze four reps at your bodyweight in the pull,ups and curl a A2,pound bar. As you go through this routine, besides increasing your arm size appreciably, your work capacity should radically impro e.

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7 Tips For Massive Arms

". Train using the double station system.

(. To gain arm strength, pause between reps.

). 'on$t negle!t the forearms.

*. Train your traps.

+. ,ive the +-&"-"* method a try.

7. -pe!ifi! bra!hialis training.

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