WB Archives 20180110: Right to Bare Arms

One question I get a lot is how to work on building strong, lean and solid arms. Unfortunately, as with most of my advice, there is no shortcut. The trick is massive volume reps with constant time under tension working both the biceps and triceps. People will try all sorts of ways around this either to save time or to be ego lifters, but at the end of the day, there are tried and true principles to building great arms. It takes some time, it will make you sore and it might seem boring.

A. Broham Lincoln freed the sleeves

However, if you want solid arms this is the way to do it. Anything else and you might as well just grab a Shake Weight. While it may be winter now, in a few short months it will be suns out guns out and the sooner you get started the better.

Only slightly better than ego lifting

So what is wrong with using heavier weights for bicep and triceps exercises? In a word: everything. When you do your isolation lifts on the biceps and triceps you want to use a weight light enough that you will not engage your forearm or, worse, your elbow. Sure, standing there curling 75 pound dumbbells looks cool, but trust me…having awesome arms looks cooler. Remember, here at WB Fitness we are all about working out intelligently, not just stroking our ego in the gym.
The problem with using a weight light enough that you can isolate small muscles like biceps and triceps is that it takes a while to fatigue them and cause the micro tears that lead to muscle growth (and with muscle growth, fat loss and tighter skin). This is why we use massive volume rather than mid or low rep ranges. By keeping the muscles isolated and increasing the time under tension, we are forcing them to grow.

Usually we talk about “light weight for you” and I am a big believer in that concept. If you are lifting 20 pounds or 200 pounds keep your focus on RPE and that is all. However, in this arm workouts the volume will be so high that the weight is pinned very low. I will give different weights for men and women below, but both will be very light. Further, there is separate lift, after the main part, for men. This last part is a concentration curl and is specifically good for bicep peaks which is why I advise this only for the guys.

Concentration Curls are a great way to grow your bicep head

The light weight that we want to be using here serves a very important function. Being able to do this heavier is not a win. Doing it heavier does not mean you will have faster growth.The weights here will be so low that by the middle of the first set you should wonder why you are bothering and by the middle of the last set you should cursing my name.

Lifting as heavy as possible does not build your arms up, all it does is recruit other muscles or joints to help. Isolating a muscle with the proper weight and totally fatiguing it through massive repetition will build muscle.

Do keep in mind that fat loss CAN NOT be targeted. You can’t just lose some fat on your arms or your mid-section or any other place. What you can do is combine proper nutrition with exercise to reduce overall body fat while targeting muscles for growth. As the fat and water weight disappear from your body and the targeted muscles grow (those muscles passively burning more calories as well) you can define the look you want in your arms.

Below is the arm workout I recommend. It works wonders for me and I really believe it will work wonders for you. I suggest you use it as an active rest day challenge or a post workout burn out, as isolation exercise alone is not what we are looking for here.

Whichever way you chose to do it, however, whether it is as a burn out or rest day challenge, keep in mind that time under tension is the important part here. We are not in a race to finish this workout. We want to focus on every rep, every concentric as well as eccentric movement, and always keep that mind muscle connection tight. It will take a little bit of time, but you will see the results. You can do a faster workout if you want, but you will never see the same results. If you get through your workout quicker but don’t see the results, which one really saved you more time?

This workout is simply two supersets. That’s all. Sound easy? Give it a shot and let me know your results below! Of course, if you have any questions about form please let me know. I am always happy to help.

WB Fitness Arm Challenge
Superset 1 6×50 (use at most 15 pound dumbbells for men and at most 5 pound dumbbells for women) 

Alternating Supinated Dumbbell Curls X

Alternating Bent Over Dumbbell Kickbacks

Superset 2 (total weight for each at most 30 pounds for men, at most 10 pounds for women)

Barbell 21’s (if you don’t have barbells use dumbbells) 6 sets X

Seated Triceps Extension 6×25

Concentration Curls (For Men)

6×25 (per arm) with (at most) 20 pound weights.

If your arms are a major concern of yours, I would suggest doing this workout as a burn out every other day. Along with proper diet and exercise, this should have your arms looking sculpted before you know it.

To recap, here are the key points

• Keep Time Under Tension at a maximum which means never locking out and always making sure there is weight to cause tension
• Do not rush through these. Slow is good in this case
• Focus on concentric and eccentric parts of the lift
• When you get to the top of the lift squeeze your bicep
• Rest period between supersets is no longer than 30 seconds
• Maintain mind muscle connection at all costs
• Use weight light enough to isolate the targeted muscles without involving the forearm or elbow for maximum benefit

Finally, keep in mind that this is not the be all and end all. This is a burn out or a challenge meant to encourage muscle growth in your arms and it will work, but if you are looking for an over all ripped look in your arms this is only one piece of the puzzle. You will still need to hit your arms in other ways during the course of your normal workout routine as well as focus on your cardio and your diet to bring your overall body fat percentage down to show of those gains.