Arm Workouts – Huge Arms with Arm Blast Workouts
By: Powertec Model Ian Lauer, CSCS
When it comes to arm workouts, you may have heard in the past that “heavy compound movements build your arms.” Consequently, for some hard core weight lifters, arm workouts became an afterthought on chest and back day. You know the splits: Chest and Tri’s or Back and Bi’s. I am NOT saying that these are bad training splits. Rather, I am saying if you are serious about building arm muscle mass and your arm workouts are lagging, it’s time to try something new. As the saying (roughly paraphrased) goes, “Doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanity!” So if the afore mentioned is you and you want to step away from insanity for some crazy arms, read on!
Why You Can't Ignore Arm Workouts
Let’s take a step back and look at the idea of training Triceps at the end of your Chest workout or Biceps at the end of your back workout. This seems logical upon first glance. Your Triceps are the “secondary movers” in the chest workout so they already have been working so why not “finish them off” after a good chest workout? The same holds true for the Biceps in relationship to a back workout. Why not “finish them off after a back blast? You can…but you may be short changing your results. Face it, we workout harder and push more weight with more intensity earlier rather than later in a workout. If you want greater results for a body part it should be given preference or at least earlier priority in your workout. Because I DON’T recommend cutting back on the compound movement for chest or back, I DO recommend ADDING a day to focus on arm workouts.
How to Incorporate Arm Workouts
You can easily do your arm workouts (train the Biceps and Triceps) on the same day without excessive fatigue since they are relatively small muscle groups. Additionally, because they use very little in the way of Oxygen and ATP (Adenosine Tri-Phosphate: quick anaerobic energy source) the arm workouts are not terribly taxing on the cardiovascular system either. This means you can crank through set after set with very little rest between each. The end result is an incredible arm muscle mass in short order. You should easily get through an arm onslaught in 20-30 minutes max.
After adding 20-30 minutes of arm workouts once per week, you can expect to see good growth in the bi’s and tri’s in about 3-6 weeks. The key is to fuel up properly post workout with quality carbs and protein. This aids in quick recovery and fully reaching your growth potential. This brings up an important point: Be sure to have a day or two of rest between training your Chest/Back and your arm workouts. The reason is you want to be able to give 100% to each of your workouts. For this reason, I often like to have a leg workout day in the middle of my week to give the upper extremities a moments rest during the week before getting hammered with intense arm workouts again. If you are looking for maximum gains in your chest, back and arms you should employ a similar strategy.
Mechanics of Arm Workouts
At this point you’re probably eager to see an example of one of these intense arm workouts! Before we do though, let’s take just a quick moment to look at the muscles involved and their functions. The Bicep is comprised of the long and short head of the biceps brachia. Their main function is to FLEX the elbow joint. In other words, they bend your elbow moving your forearm towards your body. Additionally the brachialis is involved in the same function. So, when you perform Curls you are workout the Biceps Brachia and the Brachialis in varying proportions depending on your hand positioning.
Now let’s look at the triceps. The triceps is composed of three muscles: the Long, Lateral and Medial heads of the Triceps Brachia. Each of these muscles is part of the musculoskeletal system that works to EXTEND your arm at the elbow joint. Any time you perform arm extensions you are working your Triceps Brachia. Using different hand positions puts more emphasis on different heads of the triceps for enhanced results. Forgetting all the science and anatomy for a moment…the take home message is: ‘When you Push the Extensions and Curls to the MAX your ARMS WILL GET MAX RESULTS!’
Now that we have covered the anatomy of arm workouts, let’s get to the nitty-gritty. This is what you have been waiting for the whole time anyway. Here are three different arm workouts to get you the arms you want. These are designed to incorporate your Powertec Home Gym into your arm workouts to get the results you want.
Powertec Home Gym Arm Workouts
Crazy Arm Workouts on the POWERTEC LeverGym Home Gym
Powertec LeverGym Home Gym – http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-29-workbench-levergymtrade-wb-ls11.aspx
EZ Bar Standing Cable Curl: 4×10-12
Triceps Pushdown V Bar: 4×10-12
Preacher Curl (Accessory): 4×10-12
Underhand Grip Triceps Pushdown: 4×10-12
Rope Cable Biceps Curl: 4×10-12
Triceps Kick Backs from the Low Cable Position: 4×10-12
Crazy Arm Workouts on the POWERTEC MultiSystem Home Gym
Powertec MultiSystem Home Gym – http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-12-workbench-multi-system-wb-ms11.aspx
Standing Barbell Style Curls: 4×10-12
Triceps Pushdown: 4×10-12
Preacher Curl (Accessory): 4×10-12
Underhand Grip Triceps Pushdown: 4×10-12
Close Grip Bench Press: 4×10-12
Single Arm Preacher Curl (Accessory): 4×10-12
Crazy Arm Workouts with the POWERTEC Workbench and Dumbbell Rack with Dumbells Home Gym Equipment
Utility Bench Home Gym Equipment – http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-7-workbench-utility-bench-wb-ub13.aspx Olympic Bench Home Gym Equipment – http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-5-workbench-olympic-bench-wb-ob11.aspx Dumbbell Rack Home Gym Equipment – http://www.powertecfitness.com/p-10-workbench-dumbbell-rack-wb-dr10.aspx
Alternating Dumbbell Curls with Wrist Rotation: 4×10-12
Seated Overhead Triceps Extension (One dumbbell with two hands): 4×10-12
Concentration Curls: 4×10-12
Single Arm Triceps Kickbacks: 4×10-12
Close Grip Bench Press (Neutral Grip with Dumbbells): 4×10-12
Hammer Curls: 4×10-12
You now have an abundance of arm workouts designed to get you the arms you want now! No more excuses. You have the plan, the knowledge and hopefully the will. Now get on your Powertec home gym equipment and create the results you have always wanted!
Check out all of the Powertec Home Gym Equipment at www.PowertecFitness.com
