How To Build A Massive Pair Of Arms
It's no secret that every serious lifter out there desires an
impressive pair of strong, muscular arms. Who wouldn't be happy
with tall, peaking biceps sitting on top of rock-hard,
horse-shoe-shaped triceps? Who wouldn't love to have a pair of
ripped, well-developed guns forcefully bursting through the
sleeves of their shirt? While developing muscular arms is
usually at the top of many peoples' agenda, the reality is that
the majority of lifters out there have a very poor understanding
of how to properly train their arms for maximum gains. In order
to gain the proper insight into effectively stimulating arm
growth, we must first recognize three basic truths:
1) Relatively speaking, the biceps and triceps are small muscle
groups. 2) The biceps receive heavy stimulation during all basic
pulling movements for the back. 3) The triceps receive heavy
stimulation during all basic pressing movements for the chest
and shoulders.
What do these 3 points tell us about effective arm training? The
most important thing for you to realize is this:
For maximum gains in muscle size and strength, the biceps and
triceps require only a very small amount of direct stimulation!
So why is it that every time I enter the gym I see the same
misinformed people, week in and week out, slaving away on
endless sets of bicep curls and tricep extensions?
It's very important to understand that the biceps and triceps
receive a very large amount of stimulation from all of your
chest and back training. In fact, a lot of the time when you
reach muscular failure on a chest or back movement, it is
actually your biceps or triceps that give out first! Couple this
with the fact that your biceps and triceps are already small
muscle groups to begin with and it becomes quite clear that
direct arm training is of minor importance.
Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym. The work that you
accomplish as you train with weights is merely the "spark" that
sets the wheels of the muscle growth process into motion. The
real magic takes place out of the gym while you are resting and
eating, as this is the time when your body will actually be
synthesizing new muscle tissue. Because of this, it is vital
that you do not overtrain your muscles. You must always make
sure to provide them with sufficient recovery time if you want
to see impressive results. Overtraining can actually make your
muscles smaller and weaker.
If you're looking to achieve serious arm growth, you must stop
placing so much emphasis on direct arm movements. Forget about
performing endless sets of concentration curls and tricep
pressdowns. Strong, muscular arms are mostly a product of heavy
chest and back training. If you are able to accept this basic
truth and place the majority of your focus on building up the
muscle size and strength in your major muscle groups, you will
prevent yourself from overtraining your arms and will therefore
yield greater overall gains in bicep and tricep size.
This is not to say that no direct arm training is necessary,
just not very much. Here is a sample arm routine that you can
use as a part of your program:
Barbell Curls - 2 sets of 5-7 reps Standing Dumbbell Curls - 1
set of 5-7 reps
Close-Grip Bench Press - 2 sets of 5-7 reps Standing Cable
Pushdowns - 1 set of 5-7 reps
Take all sets to complete muscular failure and focus on
progressing each week by using slightly more weight or
performing an extra rep or 2.
If you can incorporate this way of thinking into your arm
training, you will achieve arm size beyond anything you
previously thought possible!