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What is Arm Training?
You've heard it in the gym hundreds of times: "What are you training today?"
"I'm doing arms, what about you?"
You wonder, or should if you're not, what exactly does this mean? Are you training biceps, triceps, forearms, all three? More often than not, when a guy says he's doing arms, he means he's going to blast his biceps. In actuality, he should be blasting his biceps and triceps especially due to the fact that the tricep makes up the largest area of the arm. A well-developed tricep will turn the average arm into a gun. The tricep muscle is composed of three parts or heads as you may have heard them referred to as. They are the medial, lateral and long heads. It is imperative that each one is trained consistently and correctly to ensure the best possible growth and development. Now keep in mind, my intention is not to downplay the importance of serious bicep training but to stress the absolute necessity of making your arm workouts complete and that means taking the tricep just as seriously as the bicep. We all love the appearance of our bicep muscle. It~s almost universal when someone asks, Go ahead, make a muscle!, they mean to do the classic one arm bicep flex pose.
WARMUPS: Warm-up sets should be an integral part of your workout. You need to get the blood flowing and the muscles stimulated before you jump right into your workout. You should do a warm-up set consisting of 15 ~ 20 reps for each individual bodypart you train that day. So for our bicep and tricep workout, you will do a warm-up set for each. Whatever exercise you decide to do first is the one that will contain the warm-up set.
HEAVY/LIGHT DAYS: An excellent method to incorporate into your routine is the Heavy and Light Day. The way this methodology works is simple. Every time you train a bodypart, you will alternate between Heavy and Light training. A Heavy Day consists of all sets per workout containing no more than 6 10 reps. A Light Day consists of all sets containing no more than 12 15 reps. So Light Day by no means implies an easier day. The Light Day should be just as intense as, if not more than, a Heavy Day. So if you are training Biceps and Triceps in the same workout, you may want to choose to do one muscle group as your Heavy Day bodypart and the other for your Light Day bodypart. You will be doing 3 exercises per bodypart for this Bicep/Tricep workout.
OVERTRAINING: Overtraining is something that we as serious fitness enthusiasts want to avoid at all costs, especially with bicep and tricep training. The reason being that these muscles are probably the easiest to overtrain considering they are utilized in so many movements for various muscle groups. Remember, your triceps are utilized whenever you train chest and shoulders and your biceps are utilized during back training. Therefore, it is important to schedule your workouts accordingly. For example, don~t train biceps the day before or day after your back training. Doing so can adversely affect either bodypart when it is their time to be trained. If you were training back today, the earliest you~d want to train your biceps would be at least 2 ,3 days and vice-versa. It~s the same thing with chest and triceps. You do not want to train your triceps the day before your chest workout. This could really have a negative effect on your chest workout and also restrict the tricep from initiating the recovery process. Understanding that the biceps and triceps assist in so many other movements, you can see how important it is to give them the rest and recovery they need to ensure maximum development.
BICEP & TRICEP WORKOUT
TRICEPS: OVERHEAD TRICEP EXTENSIONS: Hold a dumbbell over your head with a hand over hand grip underneath one side of the dumbbell. Do not fully extend your elbows at the top of the movement and try to keep your elbows as close to your head as possible throughout the movement. Slowly lower the weight behind your head until you~ve achieved the maximum stretch of your tricep. Slowly return the weight back up to the start position. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
V-GRIP PUSHDOWNS: Attach a V-Grip to a cable assembly and stand with your back against the pad. Keep a slight bend in your knees throughout the movement. Your forearms should be just about parallel to the ground at the start position with your elbows close to your sides. Keep your back erect as you gently lower the weight until you~ve reached the maximum tricep contraction. Gently bring the weight back up to the start position. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
PARALLEL BAR DIPS: Position yourself on the narrow part of the parallel bars (Some parallel bars are narrow at one end wider at the other, if yours are not then pick any spot on the bars). Lean your body forward at the start position with your elbows as close to your body as possible. Slowly lower your body until your elbows are just about above your shoulders. Slowly raise yourself back up to the start position. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
BICEPS
STANDING STRAIGHT BAR CURLS: Grab the outer grips on the EZ Curl Bar with a relaxed grip. Make sure your arms are fully extended at the start with the bar at or a little bit below your waist. Keeping your grip relaxed throughout the movement, gently bring the weight back up to the start position as if you were dragging it up. Make sure you are flexing your bicep at the top. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
PREACHER CURLS: Grab the outer grips of an EZ Curl bar and make sure seat position is such that your shoulders are not draped over the pad on the preacher bench. You don~t want to involve the shoulders in this exercise so it~s important to keep them back. With a relaxed grip, slowly lower the weight as far down as you can without fully locking out the elbow. Slowly bring the weight back up to the start making sure you~ve reached full contraction of the bicep. Make sure you are maintaining control throughout the positive and negative parts of the movement. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
DUMBBELL CONCENTRATION CURLS: Rest the elbow of the arm you intend to start the exercise with against the inner thigh of the corresponding leg. You can place the hand of the other arm right behind the elbow for extra support. Your start position should be with the weight as far down as possible without fully locking out the elbow. Slowly drag the weight up until you~ve fully contracted the bicep muscle. Repeat for the desired number of reps.
For more information go to ArmYourBody.com
