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 By: Paul Bourque Everybody wants big arms, that's a given. Unfortunately some of the methods people use just don't work. This article will lay out a killer arm routine that guarantees results, as long as you follow the guidelines. First, some general rules/information has to be presented.
Clean up your diet and start eating a surplus of calories. Your body will be primed for growth then. Remember: no diet = no arms.
Having a separate day for arms is fine, but you must also have a day for back, shoulders, and chest. Compound movements in those areas will greatly help build overall mass and mass on your biceps and triceps. Here is what I am talking about:
Progression will also keep you motivated to keep working out. Don't worry about adding 10+ Lbs. to each lift every week, that's where people go wrong. They add too much weight, don't progress or grow, and then lose motivation. Add small increments each week, or a couple reps. As long as you're progressing, you will grow.
Well it's the triceps that are going to stretch the tape more, because they make up most of your arm! So in any weight lifting program, do not neglect triceps.
There are exercises that isolate the biceps more, but you can't get a huge peak if it's not in your genetics. But you can still have big arms. Now with those few general guidelines out of the way, let's get to what you've all been waiting for:
This routine will be 8 weeks long, and should induce a good amount of muscle growth on your arms. Depending on how the routine works, you may want to keep it and use it all the time. You may want to keep the routine, but change up the exercises after the 8 weeks. All of this is fine, as long as you're progressing. First we are going to cover the base of the program, and the methods used.
It's also the part of the lift where you should inhale. The negatives are what create the most microtrauma, which will lead to bigger signals for growth [1].
The downside to this though, is that negatives are harder on the CNS (Central Nervous System). If you do them too much, you'll overtrain (your genetics determine how much you can handle, so different people will overtrain faster or slower than others). That is why only 1 exercise for biceps and 1 exercise for triceps will be stressed with a slow negative. Each of the other exercises will yield a 2 second controlled negative. The concentric portion of the lift will be in a controlled fashion, usually about 1 second.
You'll then rest, and hit the second set for biceps, followed immediately by the second set for triceps, etc.
You will perform extreme stretching for the biceps and triceps at the very end of each workout. Here, you're stretching the fascia of the muscle to allow more room for growth. Check out good articles on stretching here. This stretching is going to be painful, but remember, it's supposed to be. Here are the two stretches that you will perform:
 The weight you use for extreme stretches should be heavy, about 60-70% of what you would use for a 6-8 rep set.
Every 4 weeks on this program (the 4th and 8th week), you'll add cumulative fatigue work in your workouts. The main exercise for each muscle group (Ex. curls for biceps) will be put as the last exercise in your workout, and you'll perform it in a cumulative fatigue fashion. What you're going to be doing here is 6 sets of 8 reps. The catch here is that you get a rigid 45 second rest period in between each set. The fatigue in your muscles will build up more and more during each set. You should choose a weight that will be relatively easy for the first set, and brutally hard on the last set. This is how it should feel (example exercise will be EZ bar curls):
Set 2 - Still not that bad, but harder than set 1 Set 3 - Getting a bit tough, starting to clench your teeth during the last couple reps Set 4 - This is hard now, and you're tired Set 5 - Almost every rep you're squeezing hard, this is a very intense set Set 6 - You must squeeze with all of your might on each rep, you barely get that 8th rep
This is where a lot of people get confused. They see "don't go to failure" and they automatically think "use a light weight". You will not be using a light weight, and the set will still be hard. It just won't be all out. With the volume and methods used in this routine, chances are high that you will overtrain quickly.
What you can do is experiment with different rep ranges, and find out what works best for you. You can then get a general idea of what fibers make up most of your muscle. Here's a guideline chart for the different rep ranges that train type II fibers (type I fibers are more endurance and less size/strength):
Type IIb: 3 - 5
Type IIb: 6-12 There will be a few different rep ranges used, and you can feel free to change them in accordance to your body and fiber type distribution.
Now you're all filled in on what is going to be used in this routine. It's time to actually see what exercises and rep ranges you're going to be using. When you see something like '3 x 6-8', that simply means 3 sets of 6-8 reps. If you get 6 reps the first week, you should either increase the weight (2.5-5lbs), or try and get 8 reps. Once you can get 8 reps, you must increase the weight. Again, it's all about progression. Here's the routine:
Close-Grip Bench Press w/ a 6sec. Negative: 3 x 6-8 Superset #2:
Lying Tricep Extension: 2 x 8-10 Superset #3:
Cable Pressdowns: 2 x 10-12 * Extreme stretches for biceps and triceps.
Cumulative Fatigue (Done Once Every 4 Weeks):
Close-Grip Bench Press: 6 x 8 w/ 45sec. rest in between sets
Some people feel that heavy deadlifts and other movements will take care of their forearms, and that's fine. If not, add this to the end of each workout:
Barbell Reverse Wrist Curls: 2 x 8-10
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All good things must come to an end, as does this article. I hope you've enjoyed reading it, and by the time you finish this routine you should have packed a good amount of muscle on your arms. Just remember: no matter what, always progress. Keep at it and you'll have to buy an entire new wardrobe in no time. Stay consistent, and have fun!
Yours truly,
Paul
References
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