There’s a couple things in bodybuilding that are as desirable as big muscular arms. The Truth is when individuals grab a dumbbell the 1st time, they try to perform some sort of bicep curl with it. Whenever people tell you to “flex your muscle” you automatically think they’re asking you to display your bicep.

Everyone desires big baseball biceps and horseshoe triceps. The type of arms that make you proud to put on a sleeve shirt and show off. However most trainees pursue arm training the incorrect way. A normal arm workout for a majority guys involves endless curl sets, and lifting way too heavy and swinging and cheating the weights up.

When training the major muscle groups like the legs, back, and chest I generally recommend you constantly push to increase your training poundages every training session. Fact is a stronger muscle is a bigger muscle. However, with arm training constantly striving to up the weights may back fire. It’s big difference between adding 5 lbs. to a 400 lbs. deadlift and adding 5 lbs. to a 30 lbs. dumbbell curl.

With arm training you’ll make incredible gains over the long period if you concentrate on simply working the muscles, instead of moving maximum weights. Obviously, as your arms get bigger they will become stronger and you’ll have to bump up your weights accordingly, but don’t force it. You’ll know when the time is right to up the weights for your arm workouts.

As your arms come togather with other bodypart workouts (i.e. biceps are worked with all rowing exercises and triceps are worked with all pressing exercises). You’ll only need to devote one training day per week to direct arm work.

One of the most effective workouts for muscle building within the arms is using a training technique called “Positions of Flexion”. Which basically means training each group of muscles through it’s full range of movement; starting with a compound mid-range exercise, then moving on to an exercise that actually works the muscle in the completely stretched position, and then finishing with an exercise that operates the muscle group in the fully contracted position.

IronMan Magazine writer Steve Holman has written a lot about “Positions of Flexion” workouts, but the concept is certainly not new. In reality if you watch the movie Pumping Iron you can see that Arnold used this style of training for his workouts, and his arm development was simply incredible, even by today’s standards.
To provide you with an example, here is a typical bicep workout that Arnold used to do:

Barbell Curls
(this is a mid-range exercise as most of the tension is on the biceps in the center of the rep)

Incline Dumbbell Curls
It is a stretched position exercise as the majority of the strain is on the biceps at the end or fully stretched position)

Concentration Curls
(it is a peak contraction exercise as most of the stress is on the biceps at the top of the rep when the biceps are fully contracted)

Lately I’ve been focusing my own workouts around the “Positions Of Flexion” concept and the results have been awesome, I’ve gotten by far the most intense muscle pumps that I’ve felt in a long time. In the past I usually just focused the majority of my efforts within the big basic compound mid-range exercises, but by incorporating fully stretched movements and fully contracted movements I can tell that I’m working muscle fibers that are not getting touched with just basic compound lifts. POF training utilizes the best of both compound and isolation exercises to operate the muscles through the complete range of motion.

Bicep Workout

Standing Barbell

Start each bicep workout with a basic exercise like the standing barbell curl. Perform a couple progressively heavier warm up sets and then keep the same weight for 3 sets of 10 reps. Rest about 2 minutes in between each set.

Standing Barbell Curls

This is the way my sets usually go:

- On the first I will get all 10 reps with good form.

- For the second set I’ll will often have to utilize a slight little bit of body momentum on the last few reps to complete the set as my muscles are a bit fatigued from the first set.

- For the third set I’ll get about 6-8 reps then have to place the bar down for a 10 second rest pause before completing the rest of the set.

Incline Dumbbell Curls

Lying back on a 45 degree angle incline bench. Let the dumbbells hang at the sides so that you will feel a good stretch towards the bottom. Really emphasis the stretch position during the entire exercise.

Incline Dumbbell Curls

You should use a slight rebound out of the bottom position to help lift the weights back up. When you use a fast twitch at the point of stretch, you activate the myotatic reflex, which sends a shock to the nervous system and forces reserve muscle fibers to come into play.

Obviously, begin light and build up gradually. This is definitely not an ego exercise. You do this to work the muscles, not see just how much weight you can lift. Training in the fully stretched position has a lot of possibility of growth, but it also has an increased risk for injury if you are not careful.

Again, do 2-3 progressively heavier warm up sets and then maintain your same weight for 3 sets of 10 reps. Rest about 2 minutes in between each set.

Concentration Curls

This exercise isolates the biceps and is great for obtaining a peak contraction in the muscles. The peak-contraction effect finishes off the muscle and helps further stimulate those reserve fibers you recruited with the stretch in the last exercise.

Concentration Curls

Sit at the end of an exercise bench with the legs spread. Reach down between your legs and pick up a dumbbell with one hand. Brace your elbow against your knee and fully straighten your arm. Place your other hand on your opposite leg to support your upper body.

Moving only your forearm, use your bicep strength to curl the dumbbell as much as shoulder level. Hold this position for a couple of seconds to maximize the peak contraction within the biceps. Slowly lower the dumbbell towards the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of reps. Do the same for your other arm.

Since your biceps are pumped and warmed up at this time you are able to just jump to your working weight and do 3 sets of 10 reps per arm. Rest only 1 minute between each set, while you are training one arm the other will be getting a rest.

Tricep Workout

Close Grip Bench Press

Start your tricep workout with a big basic compound movement that heavily works the triceps through the mid-range of the exercise. Lie down on the flat bench press and grab the bar using a grip no wider then the width of your torso, generally for many guys this will be with the index fingers around the smooth part of a standard Olympic barbell. Using too close of a hand spacing is only going to place excess stress on the wrists and limit how much weight that you can lift.

Close Grip Bench Press
Perform a couple progressively heavier warm up sets and then keep the same weight for 3 sets of 10 reps. Rest about 2 minutes between each set.

Overhead Tricep Extensions

I like to do this exercise with the ez curl bar as it is more comfortable on the wrists. By doing tricep extensions overhead you’ll have a better stretch throughout the muscles and it will work a lot of long head in the triceps. Make sure to use a full-range of movement and make use of a little bit of a rebound from the bottom position to assist lift the weights back up. Working in this stretched position point in which you rebound and change direction between lowering and lifting can help trigger hyperplasia or fiber splitting and therefore improve overall muscle growth and size gains.

Overhead tricep extensions

Do 2-3 progressively heavier warm up sets and then keep your same weight for 3 sets of 10 reps. Rest a couple of minutes between each set.

Dumbbell Kick Backs

This is an excellent exercise to hit all three heads in the triceps with a good peak contraction and finish off your tricep workout with an incredible skin stretching muscle pump.

Brace yourself against a flat exercise bench. Grab a dumbbell in a single hand. Place your other hand on the bench to support yourself.

Dumbbell Kick Backs

Keep your upper arm to the side of your torso during the entire exercise. Moving just your forearm lift the dumbbell within an arc motion until your arm is straight. Hold this position for just a second to increase the peak contraction in the triceps. Slowly return the dumbbell towards the starting position. Repeat.

Since your triceps are pumped and warmed up at this time you can just jump to the working weight and do 3 sets of 10 reps for each arm. Rest only 1 minute in between each set, when you are training one arm the other will be receiving a rest.

Well, that’s it… an entire arm workout that will blast your triceps and biceps through the true full range of movement and stimulate some new muscle gains.

Hope you enjoyed todays post! Let me know what kind of content you all would love to see more information on and I’ll do my best to provide high quality, informative information

To your sucess,

Travis

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