Frank Zappa once said that anyone who tells you that the first time they picked up a guitar was for the love of music and not to impress a girl is a liar. Similarly, as much as we are passionate about bodybuilding and want that symmetry, strength and total body fullness with low body fat because it challenges us and makes us better, as much as we want that killer mindset, as much as we have grown into the love of this sport at some point we were all n00bs and as n00bs what did we want? Big fucking arms that girls want to touch.
And while we get more serious and concentrate on things like overall body fat, the Adonis belt, lower delt definition, bigger calves, more vascularity etc etc etc we can’t forget that old go to….the arms.
There are some things we need to understand to better grow that filled out, hard, thick arm
If we don’t know about the anatomy how can we manipulate it to grow the way we want it?
we all want. First of all, let’s look at the muscle anatomy of the arm. Notice the most obvious and immediate difference between the biceps and the triceps. There are two muscle heads on the biceps and three on the triceps. This means we need to work the triceps 33% harder than the biceps in order to get an even fullness in the full arm.
Looking further we see that the biceps and triceps are supported by joints and tendons. This is the
Looking forward to my arms filling out like crazy
reason we don’t want to go too heavy on our lifts — especially with arms. These are, comparatively, small muscles. We do not want to stress those joints and tendons. Putting weight on them, unlike when we put weight on muscles, will not stimulate them into growth, only wear them out which won’t do anyone any good.
So the first thing I want to mention is that when you are working your triceps make sure you have either more weight (if you can handle it without over taxing the muscle and forcing compensation on the part of the tendon and joint) or add additional reps. Large and lean is great but what separates the muscular from the truly aesthetic athlete is symetry to remember there is more muscle in the triceps than the biceps.
Other tips for growing muscle come directly from the man himself — Arnold. He notes that it
The man knew arm gains!
is important to have variety in your workouts. Barbells, dumbbells and cables need all be utilized. There is no “which is better, it is always “they are all different so do them all.”
For arms, isolation is key. Engaging other muscles while working your arms, such as the delts or lower back or any other body part, only reduces the workout that the biceps and triceps get. Also, never swing the weights. Inertia, in bodybuilding, is never your friend. Gravity has enough gains, you are in the gym to work on you. Keep the weight where it belongs…on your muscles.
Always complete full range of motion. No half curls, no quater kickbacks. You made it to the gym, you changed your clothes, you got yourself psyched, you have been keeping your diet on point, you are well hydrated, you got on the floor, you grabbed the weight that your many hours upon hours of learning about this stuff has taught you was the right thing….why in the fuck would you stop before you go through the full range of motion at this point? Ponderous!
Arms….Fucki’n Arms.
Play with your lifts until you find, and commit to muscle memory, your natural groove and lifting path. Everyone is different and everyone’s ideal line of motion for each lift will be slightly different. Find yours. No matter how long you spend grooving your lift if will be a value in all the hours you send lifting achieving 100% effectiveness rather than skipping the self discovery phase and spending all those hours lifting in an inefficient manner.
Finally, lifting, all lifting, requires total concentration. Your mind should not wander. Do not get lost in your song. Do not be thinking of what time it is or what you have to get done. Keep your mind with your lift, connected to your muscle at all times. This is of the utmost importance. You need to fixate on and obsess over each micro movement. Focus so hard that it is almost a workout in and of itself. You should be acutely aware of every 1/10000th inch of movement as if your life depended on it.
Have any doubts, give it a try for a few weeks and tell me there isn’t a huge difference. Going through the motions WILL NOT get you to where you want to be. Hyper focus on every small thing involved in each and every lift to the exclusion of everything else in the world.
As we go forward we are going to be talking about all different ways to hit the body, all the different muscle groups and everything from the common place to the most esoteric, but let’s begin here…where it began for nearly all of us….with arms. A problem of the most advanced in any field is they often forget the basics. Let’s get those fucking arms jacked!
Grind On!