Training Alert! Top 3 Tips for Building Bigger Arms
There isn’t a single person out there training in the gyms right now that doesn’t want bigger arms. Am I right in saying that or what? Of course I’m right and in saying that, how many people do you think are actually training the way they should be in order to attain significant arm size? Very few is my guess and after spending close to three full decades trying to build up my own arm size coupled with teaching countless students and clients how to fully develop their own, here are some of my best tips for building bigger arms right now so that you can be fully armed with a set of pipes versus walking around with a set of pipe cleaners. So, in no particular order, here are my top 3 tips you need to start using now in order to fulfill your need for bigger arms.
Tip #1: Build Up Your Triceps
Probably the biggest misconception out there, especially for those who are just starting out, is that in order to have huge arms you have to have huge biceps. While there is some degree of truth to that misconception, those who have freakishly huge arms, always have gigantic triceps. When you break things down from an anatomical and mathematical standpoint, it only stands to reason that of course that’s true seeing as the triceps is made up of three muscles and the biceps is made up of two. My advice, if you’re going to incorporate an arm day only in your routine, is to start things off with triceps first and then finish the workout with biceps. I think by doing that, you’ll have more energy to move the type of weight your triceps are capable of moving and therefore, give yourself a better shot of triggering hypertrophy by following a progressive overload style of training for them.
Tip #2: Train Your Biceps Differently from Your Triceps
A lot of people keep things simple and train their entire body the same way. If beating the logbook has worked for back day, then why wouldn’t it elicit the same results for chest day or for arm day? Well, unfortunately things aren’t quite that simple and once you realize that different muscle groups respond better to different types of training stimuli, then that’s when you’ll really start growing. When it comes to training arms, this differentiated approach will serve you well. The triceps tend to respond better to heavier weights, moderate rep ranges and a decent amount of volume. Biceps, on the other hand, tend to respond much better to a light to moderate weight approach, using tons of volume and lots of pumping style sets. It seems that the more blood you can force into the biceps, the better they respond. So, make sure you shift gears, training style wise, when you go from training triceps to biceps to ensure the same level of growth for each muscle group.
Tip #3: Alternate Muscle Group Exercises
This one is relatively new for me and perhaps some of you out there have been experimenting or using this approach as well. But, going from performing a triceps movement to a biceps movement and then back to a triceps movement and then another biceps movement and so on for the duration of the workout has provided a lot of growth for a lot of different people. Now, keeping this old school, I was always of the mindset that you should just simply trash either the biceps or triceps first, with all the exercises you intended on doing for that workout, and then do the same for the other muscle. What I’ve noticed by incorporating the alternating approach is that I seem to have more intensity/energy to give to that muscle group, for that exercise, when I come back to it. At first, I thought I would lose the pump in the muscle by leaving it alone for a full exercise before coming back to it, but I don’t and having an intra-workout shake on hand consisting of GP3 EVO and Battle Juice, definitely helps with maintaining that pump, so no need to worry there. If you haven’t yet done something like this for your arm training day, I highly suggest giving it a try as I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results you’ll see.
Larger than life arms just look awesome; there’s no denying it and being able to fill out the sleeves of any shirt you put on will always be self-fulfilling. When someone asks you to make a muscle, they’re not asking you to stomp out a quad shot or hit a lat spread, they’re asking you to throw up the guns. So, if you’re someone who likes to oblige to requests like that or you just want to have freakishly huge arms, give the tips mentioned above a try, allow for some time to pass to see how your body responds to the new training stimulus, keep taking all your favorite Advanced Genetics supplements and do your best to turn those pipe cleaners into pipes.
Author: Dana Bushell
Dana Bushell, a graduate of St. Francis Xavier University (BAHK, B.Ed) is an Educator, Writer, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Nutrition Advisor, Contest Prep/Lifestyle Coach and former competitive bodybuilder, who has been involved in the Fitness Industry for over 25 years. He has worked and written for major fitness publications and many popular bodybuilding sites, is a Gym Star Team member and works hard at teaching and promoting a fitness-based lifestyle in his career as a Physical Education Specialist.