Beach season is here, and your bi's and tri's are looking flat. The following are some smart choices to make when training the arms to get the most out of your reps, get a major pump, and spark muscular development.
Video: The Sleeve Splitting Arms Workout >>>
A1) Chinups (palms in)- max reps
Grab a chin-up bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. Using your lats and biceps – pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar.
Lee says: Pulling weight from overhead may be difficult, but it’s a great way to hit the "peak," since the arm position helps to further activate the brachialis muscle.
A2) Parallel Bar weighted Dips – 12 reps
Position yourself onto a pair of dip bars. Lower yourself until your arms are at a 90-degree angle. Push yourself back up until your body is straight – then repeat.
Lee says: Use parallel bars rather than the bench dip because when the hands are on a bench, the arm has to rotate internally and ends up bearing load from a less than ideal position. With parallel bars, the shoulder joint has more stability.
Perform 4 rounds of this superset, and rest 90 seconds between rounds.
B1) EZ Bar Curls – 10 reps
Grab an EZ bar with a shoulder width grip. Keeping your elbows tight and by your sides, curl the bar upwards – squeezing your biceps at the top of the movement.
Lee says: Keep a tall spine. Add a slow eccentric (negative) phase for each rep, and you’ll make your biceps work that much harder with the added time under tension.
B2) French Press – 10 reps
Using an overhand grip on an EZ bar, lay down on a bench. Lower your forearms until the behind your head. Using your triceps, extend your forearms back to their original position.
Lee says: French presses hit the long head of the triceps to reach into plenty of untapped muscle tissue from standard triceps exercises.
Perform 4 rounds of this superset, and rest 90 seconds between rounds.
C1) DB Hammer Curl – 10 reps
With a neutral grip, grab a pair of dumbbells. Keeping your elbows tight – curl them past a 90 degree angle. Slowly lower them back into position.
Lee says: Using a neutral grip will help activate the brachioradialis and add thickness to the forearms and the area of the upper arm closest to the elbow.
C2) ModifiedTricepsPresdown– Max reps
Set the rope handle of the triceps pushdown at the top notch of the bar. Grasp the handle with both hands and lean your torso away from the pulley. Extend your elbows downwards.
Lee says: Adding some movement away from the torso with the upper arm changes the game and activates the long head of the muscle group – meaning more of your triceps are working for a burn and pump that will make its presence manifest.