HOW TO BUILD HUGE ARMS - FREE REPORT Training arms is all about taking advantage of your angles. It’s not about how much weight you can lift or how much momentum you can incorporate into the movement. It’s about placing the most amount of stress on what’s important; the biceps & triceps, whilst targeting & attempting to break dwon as many muscle fibres as possible. Personally, I’m an avid believer in incorporating a full range of motion in order to drive the maximum amount of force into the target muscle. I have always found it to offer the most optimal results. Cheat curls & intensity techniques such as partial reps, slower tempos, drop sets etc all have their place, but for the most part, I’d advise to centre the majority of your arm training around taking advantage of that full range of motion.
From here, there are a few things to take into account to ensure you’re giving yourself every opportunity to grow: ▪ Muscle fibers: how can you hit the different types to spur growth? ▪ Biceps & triceps: how can you vary the angles to best promote growth?
▪
Biceps & triceps: how can you vary the rep ranges to best promote growth? In order to hit them as hard as possible, it’s best to understand a little bit more about the way your muscle fibres respond to different styles of training & how the muscles in your arms work & respond to training. The basic principle that needs to be understood is that the arm is simply a matter of flexors & extensors; that is, the biceps & triceps are largely used to straighten or bend the arm. MUSCLE FIBRES There are 3 different types of muscle fibres: ▪ Type 1 (Slow Twitch) These fibres are slow to contract & are able to sustain muscular contraction for an extended period of time, making them ideal for endurance ‘events’ or hypertrophy style sets. They are fatigue resistant but are only able to produce a relatively low level of force output. Rep range ~8-20. ▪ Type 2a (Fast Twitch) These fibres are known for their ability to generate an explosive burst of power for a short period of time, such as a heavy bench press. These are less fatigue resistant, produce more muscular force & contract at a faster speed than slow twitch muscle fibres. Rep range ~6-15. ▪ Type 2b (Fast Twitch) These fibres are recruited during activities requiring all out bursts of power & only act for an extremely short period of time, such as a one rep max, or heavy olympic lift. They are the last of the muscle fibres to be recruited; they are the most susceptible to fatigue but also generate the most power & force. Rep range ~2-8. Personally, I find that I have seen fantastic results by cycling through & incorporating different rep ranges throughout my workouts in order to destroy as many different muscle fibres as possible. This will allow for more muscle fibres to be effectively broken down (think growth & repair). More damage = more gains. Sure, there is obviously the law of diminishing returns to consider, but I feel that for the most part & for the average person training at the gym, this is going to be very hard to actually reach. BICEPS The Biceps Brachii is basically made up of two heads. What we classify as the long & the short head. These cross at both the shoulder & elbow joint &
have the responsibility of both flexing the elbow (bending your arm) & supinating the forearm (turning your palm upwards). The short- head (inner) of the bicep is where you will find most of the mass/ bulk of the muscle & the long-head (outer) is what actually creates the ”bicep peak”. When flexing the bicep muscle the long-head (outer) actually rises up & sits on top/above of the short-head (inner). Think of the long head being like a bed sheet & the short head is you lying beneath it. Elbow flexion results in the long head of the bicep getting activated as a priority. However, if you flex your bicep hard & rotate your wrist you will feel the change of emphasis between the bicep & brachialis (bend your elbow & shift from a conventional supinated/ palms facing up grip to a hammer grip & you will feel the difference). If you aren’t quite following that’s ok, just know that if you’re trying to build bigger or more developed arms, it’s important to ensure you’re hitting both of these heads in order to develop your bicep peak & add thickness to it. So, start to think about the different grips you can use while curling & the way that it will challenge the muscle in a slightly different manner. TRICEPS The triceps are made up of three heads; lateral, medial & long head. In amongst the three heads we have the Brachialis & also the Pronator Teres. The role of all three heads is the extension of the elbow joint with the long head also being responsible for adduction & extension through the shoulder joint. If our role is to hit the long head of the tricep we must consider its role in adduction & extension of the shoulder joint. Overhead, decline or any exercise where the elbow is above the shoulder is going to force the long head into a stretch, effectively placing the emphasis on it. To target the lateral head we need to lean towards pronation (palms facing down) of the forearm. Much like the bicep, the load is shared with a ‘hammer’ style grip so hitting this first leaves the lateral head to be hit alone with full pronation (palms facing down) style exercises. So, again it’s important to ensure you’re hitting all of these heads in order to develop your triceps. So, start to think about the different grips you can use, the effect of your elbow positioning & the ways that these changes will challenge the muscle in a slightly different manner. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
Ok, time for the money part of this article. So anatomy aside, how do we look at destroying our arms? As a personal preference, I much prefer to go heavier earlier in my session, as this is typically when I am the freshest, feeling my strongest & least fatigued, whilst finishing off with more higher volume style sets. In this way, it is possible to hit both Type 1 & Type 2 muscle fibres as mentioned above. So, essentially, I’d recommend at least one heavier exercise with a supinated grip & a higher volume style exercise with a hammer style grip in order to cover all of your bases. If you have the time & really want to destroy your biceps, you could also incorporate a heavier style hammer exercise & a higher volume style supinated grip exercise. We need to ensure we are satisfying the following requirements (as a minimum) for both biceps & triceps in order to truly torch our arms & give ourselves the best chance of optimally training them: ▪ At least one heavy (6-8 reps per set) style exercise ▪ At least one hypertrophy (8-15) style exercise ▪ One hammer grip exercise (biceps & triceps) ▪ One supinated style exercise (biceps) ▪ One pronated style exercise (triceps) Now, these don’t have to be separated. You can pair some of them together. For instance, you could perform a heavy, supinated bicep curl & a hypertrophy style hammer grip exercise for your biceps. Similarly, a heavy hammer grip style exercise paired with a hypertrophy style pronated grip exercise should provide the optimal approach to hitting as many different muscle fibres as possible, whilst targeting your arms in their entirety. EXAMPLE SESSION Try this bad boy out for optimal arm destruction! 1. Progressive resistance style warm up (4 sets; 90 seconds rest between sets) ▪ 15 – 8 x Standing Ezy-Bar Curls (1st set – 15 reps, 2nd set – 12 reps, 3rd set – 10 reps, 4th set – 8 reps – progressively increasing the weight you’re lifting each set) 2. Superset (4 sets; 90 seconds rest between sets): ▪ 6-8 x Seated Incline DB Bicep Curl ▪ 15-20 x Standing Hammer DB Curl 3. Pyramid set (4 sets; 90 seconds rest between sets)
▪
15 – 8 x Tricep Dip on parallel bars (15 reps, 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps – add weight to these as you progress through each set if possible) 4. Superset (4 sets; 90 seconds rest between sets): ▪ 6-8 x DB Skull Crusher ▪ 15-20 x Straight Bar Tricep Pushdown Author - Nick Cheadle I Hope You Enjoyed this Free Report. I have more Quality Free Reports for you. If you want to maximize your results and take your physique to the next level with the Best Supplements in the Fitness Industry that Pro Body Builders use to gain muscle and get shredded fast, Get this new free report - Best Supplements Free Report