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Who doesn't massive arms? We can't think of anyone. If you’re all about efficiency and getting results this is the arm workout for you. With just three exercises you can build your arms and get on with your day. This sleeve-filling workout has no sugar coated exercises — just moves that work as hard as you do. One solid run at this workout for a few weeks and gains will follow as you go on your path to building arms as envious as Arnold's!People spend hours and hours on their arms thinking the more the better. Reality check: more work doesn’t always mean more results. The arms are a relatively small muscle group (Don’t take that personally) when compared to the legs or back. Smaller muscles fatigue quickly so doing 20 different exercises for two straight hours is overkill. It doesn’t take much exercise to get the arm gains you want. If you do want to push your progress you can do this workout twice a week if you can handle it. The arms recover faster than most muscle so as long as you follow the plan and eat your Wheaties you’ll be set.Short high-intensity workouts like this typically produce better results than longer volume oriented workouts. Most people just assume that working out longer is better. Anabolic hormones like testosterone tend to peak out after 45 minutes making anything beyond that 45 minute a limited return on your gains.
The Exercises
Each of these moves was carefully picked because of their ability to put the muscle under stress from the first set. All the moves also hit each part of your biceps and triceps leaving no part untouched.
The Biceps
The biceps are made up of two main parts. First, the long and short head make up the meat of the biceps and is what most people think of when someone flexes their arm. The other part is the biceps brachialis that sits on the outside of your arm between the biceps and triceps. It’s a muscle you only see on people with highly developed arms — since that’s the goal we’ll take extra care to target the brachialis.
Dumbbell Curl — Hammer Curl Superset
Start standing holding a dumbbell in each hand. Turn your palms out so they face away from your torso as if you’re holding the barbell. Keeping the elbows still, curl the dumbbells up with a two-second count and lower them down with a two-second count. Complete ten reps. Without setting the dumbbells down turn your palms into a hammer curl position. Curl the weights up maintaining the same wrist position throughout and go till you hit 10 reps or failure with good form.
The Triceps
It’s all about power and overload for the triceps. The triceps are much bigger than biceps meaning it takes more overload and volume to equally fatigue them. They’re also made of three parts — the lateral head, medial head and long head — that are difficult to target with just one exercise. Triceps are naturally dense as well, making lower rep high weight exercises an ideal candidate.
Close grip bench Press
Lying on a bench take a slightly narrower than shoulder-width grip on the barbell. Unrack the weight and slowly lower the bar to your chest with a two-second count. As you lower the bar keep the elbows in as tight as possible. Pause slightly at the bottom of the rep, then press up with control stopping short of a lockout to keep tension on the triceps. Complete eight total reps.
Single Arm Rope Pressdowns
Standing at a cable machine grab a rope attachment. Either pull the rope through the loop or tie the other end off. Grab slightly above the rubber end with one hand so you have to actively grip the rope. With the elbow tight to the side, extend your elbow to make your hand come down. Contract and pause at the bottom of the rep. Slowly let your hand come back up going as high as you can without moving your elbow. Complete 12 reps on each arm using a controlled pace.
The Workout
ExerciseSetsRepsRestDumbbell Curl to Hammer Curl510 each90 secondsClose Grip Bench Press4890 secondsSingle Arm Rope Pressdowns312 each60 seconds
By Raphael Konforti, MS, CPT
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