GET HEALTHY BICEPS

Big arms everyone wants them, but how do I get them?

Here are some facts I want you to think about:

1. You work your triceps when you do any pushing movement for the upper body, i.e. Bench press, shoulders, and pushing movements...

2. You work your biceps every time you use a pulling exercise i.e., back and moving weights around the room...

3. If you are doing a work your whole body 2-3 times a week workout and you have 2-3 arm days per week you are actually working out your arms 4-6 times a week. 4-6 times a week is way too much!!!

4. The biceps and triceps are very small muscles and do not need much exercise to grow. In most cases the less the better. You have to remember that they are constantly being worked out from other exercises.

5. Think about your legs for a minute. Do you have a separate leg biceps day, a separate quad day and finally a separate squat day? NO YOU DO NOT! If you do let me know your results. Well some people do with great results.

6. In order to get big upper arms you must workout your forearms and grip. If you cannot hold the weight you wish to lift, then what good is a big biceps? You need large forearms as well. Trust me I have hurt my wrists so many times that I have lost count. If you build up your wrists now, this will lessen the chances further down the road of wrist injuries. A simple test of this can be demonstrated by pinching two 10-pound weights and trying to curl them up. You will find that that is a hard task. Some people can do it with 25 pound disks!!! That is an awesome feat of strength. A person like that can grab you and throw you around. I will explain grip strength down this link.

The main point I am trying to make is, that if you are not getting any gains on your arms then you should cut down the number of sets that you are doing for arms. You must squeeze and focus on your muscles through the whole range of movement. The goal to building muscle is not the number of the poundage you are using. If you have to cheat during you first 3 reps (even just a little bit or at ALL), it is too much weight! During your weekly workout cycle, you find out that your arms are sore before you start your arm workout, then by all means either cut back that day or take the day off. I often skip my arm days, because they are already sore from other things (if it hasn't healed yet then why hamper the healing process). A basic 9 set program or less usually works best, see below:

FOR BICEPS

Straight bar curls = (2 warm up) sets 3 working sets and pyramid up in weight (10-10)-8-8-6(to warm up and work the mid-range of the movement. If you want to get the most out of this exercise, try this. Do not grip the bar hard. Keep a loose grip. This works great.

Incline curls = 3 sets and pyramid up in weight 10-8-8 (to stretch out the biceps)

Preacher curl = 3 sets and pyramid up in weight 10-8-8 (to work the lower and upper range)

FOR TRICEPS

Tricep push downs = (2 warm up) and pyramid up in weight (10-10)-8-8-6(to warm up and work the whole range)

One arm triceps extensions = 3 sets and pyramid up in weight 10-8-8 (to stretch and work all 3 heads)

Skull crushers (lying triceps extensions)= 3 sets and pyramid up in weight 10-8-6