ARMageddon !!! The Key to Arm Growth

To build stronger biceps and triceps, it helps to build your knowledge about your arm muscles and how they work. 

Your upper arm is divided into three main muscle groups.

•     Firstly, we have the biceps, which runs along the front of the arm, from your elbow to your shoulder joint. The main function of the biceps is to bend the elbow.

•     Secondly, we have the triceps which run from the elbow to the shoulder. Their main role is to straighten the elbow. The triceps are a larger muscle group than the biceps, which means they have more potential to grow.

•     The third group is the brachialis, an upper arm muscle that runs under the biceps. It’s really only visible when looking at the arms from the side, but will make your arms appear much larger from a side view. Building this muscle will create a fuller and bigger bicep.

Most people focus on biceps training, where most of the workout is centred on supine (underhand – palms forward) grip exercises which will mainly work the bicep muscles, and less on the triceps and brachialis.

If you want big arms or even sculpted and well-designed arms then you need to work your triceps and brachialis just as hard. To get great arms you need to work the triceps, biceps and the brachialis. Let’s look the most important principles you need to follow in order to build bigger, stronger arms.




Twice a Week

Train your arms a maximum of twice per week. The muscles in your arms are more prone to overtraining than other muscles of the body, mainly because they’re worked hard during pulling and pushing movements, such as the bench press and lat pull down.

So many people think that training their arms 3-4 times a week is the best way to get them to grow. Do this, and you’re setting yourself up for major disappointment. Stick to 1-2 arm workouts per week. This gives your arms the recovery time they need to grow bigger and stronger. If you work them properly and hard enough you won’t need to work them more than twice a week.

Train Hard

To get your arms to grow, you need to overload them by periodically training them to failure and beyond. Don’t just go through the motions. Prepare yourself for some high intensity sets and really squeeze out every last rep.


Train Fast

If you’re primary goal is to add muscle mass to your arms, your entire arm routine should take you no more than 30 minutes. Building muscle is not like running a marathon. Many people do too much arm work in search of big arms. Short and intense is the best training way to add mass quickly. When training your arms, more is not always better.


Correct Technique

Lift and lower the weight slowly in a controlled, focused manner. If the weights you’re using are too heavy, you’re only training your ego. This will never build big arms. To develop your arms fully, start every repetition with your arms fully extended. This makes the exercise harder, and targets all the fibres in the muscle.

If you’re using too much weight (like most people do) you’ll end up doing partial repetitions, and swinging your body all over the place but most importantly you’ll put yourself in real danger of getting injured. Reduce your weights and do the exercise properly. I stick to 1 general rule when it comes to weight training: perfect your form, then look at increasing the weight you’re lifting.




Nutrition

Well defined arms don’t come from curls or presses alone. Exercise only provides the stimulus for growth. To provide your muscles with the fuel they need to get bigger and stronger, you need to make sure you eat enough calories every day. If your arms are growing, and your weight is moving up on the scales, you know you’re on the right track.

Something else you can do to ensure rapid muscle growth in your arms (and your entire body) is to consume protein and/or carbohydrate immediately prior to, and straight after exercise. I personally stick to a basic whey protein concentrate (TPW Caramel Macchiato concentrate 80 is my favourite) for most of the day and before a workout, for after a workout I tend to use TPW's All in One Protein powder as it contains protein isolate which is absorbed quickly which is crucial for post workout. Nutrients consumed at certain times, most notably before and after your workout, can better contribute to muscle repair and recovery compared to the same nutrients consumed during other times of the day.

Feed your body with the right nutrients after exercise, and your muscles will be able to repair and recover quicker, which means bigger, stronger arms for you.



By: BradBerkleyMOT

EXTRA STRENGTH AND SIZE FOR YOUR BICEPS

Cure your biceps blunders with this heavy-duty dose of dumbbells. 

You know the adage: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. When you aim to improve your physique, you don’t use the same approach day after day; instead, you diversify, incorporating several different movements, angles and loads. And when something stops working for you in the gym, common sense dictates that it’s time for a change. Yet there are some who play to the adage, repeating the failed workouts of yesteryear in hopes that this time will be different. One of the joys of lifting weights is that you have hundreds of options at your disposal, and there may be no greater ally than dumbbells in the quest for a better body.

Dumbbells are the Talented Mr. Ripley of the fitness world, doing the work of barbells and machines in nearly every imaginable exercise, oftentimes better. Their versatility is second to none, allowing lifters to detect muscular imbalances, train without a spotter, vary wrist angles…the list goes on. This month, take a mostly unilateral approach to your biceps training. Open with a standard mass-builder, dumbbell-style. From there, it’s on to dumbbell incline curls, which target the outer head of your bi’s. Close with a one-arm preacher curl to bombard that often-neglected inner head.

Need to inject a little variety into your biceps workout? Then walk away from that rack of EZ-bars and try our all-dumbbell routine. You’ll work your peaks from different positions that are guaranteed to keep them growing.




1. Standing Dumbbell Curl

How Many? 1 warm-up + 4 sets; 10, 10, 12, 12 reps

1) START: Stand erect holding two dumbbells at your sides. Maintain a slight bend in your elbows. Palms face forward.

2) MOVE: In an explosive yet controlled manner, simultaneously curl both dumbbells, keeping your elbows tight at your sides. At the top, squeeze your biceps hard as you hold the peak contraction momentarily. Slowly reverse the motion, bringing the weights back to the start. Repeat.



2. Incline Alternating Dumbbell Curl

How Many? 4 sets; 8-12 reps apiece

1) START: Set the bench to about a 45-60-degree angle. Hold a dumbbell in each hand as you sit back on the bench and allow your arms to hang straight down toward the floor. Palms faced forward.

2) MOVE: Curl one arm at a time toward the same-side shoulder, keeping your elbow back. Keep your head straight and don’t lean to either side. Squeeze your biceps at the top. Slowly lower to the start. Alternate arms.

3. One-Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl

How Many? 3 sets; 10-15 reps for each arm

1) START: Hold a dumbbell in one hand and secure yourself on a preacher bench. Keep your nonworking hand on the bench for balance.

2) MOVE: Slowly lower the dumbbell, stopping just short of locking out your elbow. In a smooth and controlled motion, curl the weight toward the same-side shoulder. Squeeze at the top before slowly returning to the start. Complete all reps for one side, then repeat with the opposite arm.



by Eric Velazquez