I’ve 
been lifting for a long time now and always get the question of how I got my arms to where they are. The reality is I have been blessed with great genetics in terms of round muscle bellies and small joints which make my arms look bigger than they actually are. It’s a gift and a curse because they look great in the gym, but get me marked down in competition because the judges tell me they are too big. I guess there are bigger problems I could be complaining about with my physique. Don’t get me wrong I’ve put in a lot of time and energy to get these arms where they are. A couple of buddies of mine at my gym coined the phrase “Angel Arms” when talking about getting their arms to look the way they want. Needless to say everyone has strong points and weak points in regards to their physique. I will share some techniques I’ve used that can hopefully turn those pipe cleaners into weapons of mass destruction!!
Here are some points I want to cover on how I’ve gotten these “Angel Arms”:
· Frequency
· Time Under Tension (TUT)
· Form vs. Weight
· My Favorite Exercises/ sets reps
First matter of business is frequency. The American motto is: “if 1 is good then 10 must be great!!” We have this disillusion of more is better and in fact it is the opposite when dealing with lagging parts. The worst thing you can do is over-train because then you never give your body a chance to rest/recover and essentially grow. I tell people this all the time: “you put the work in the gym, and reap the rewards with your diet and rest.” This is especially true when it comes to arms because they are such a small muscle group that they get worked during every workout except for a leg workout. As long as you do the work and give them one strong workout day during the week and hit them secondarily after a chest or back workout on the other workout days you’ll do just fine.
With frequency now covered I can move on to form vs. weight. I think we’ve all seen the guy in the gym swinging around heavy weight like a caveman which he has no business using. Never sacrifice form for weight except for a burn out set in which you are just trying to crank out the last couple of reps. What I typically like to do when working on my arms is pick an easy movement to get blood into the muscle, but not burn them out (eg. Dumbbell curls/ rope push downs). After warming my arms up with a couple of sets for bi’s and tri’s I’ll pick a heavy movement with which ever part I want to work first. I also alternate weeks with which body part I start with. I will share some examples of exercises and reps/sets in a little bit, bear with me. Another tip I want to give you is proper form from my perspective. I do what is a hybrid of a drag curl and regular curl for optimal contraction of the biceps. I keep my elbows at my side and curl the bar up to about where my nipples are. I see a lot of people doing curls and they curl the weight way out in front of their body and curl all the way up to their chin. All you’re really doing when you do this is incorporating the anterior deltoid which is going to take away from your biceps! This picture shows exactly what I’m talking about.
To me this is one of my biggest issues I have with my clients trying to put size on their arms.
I want to talk about time under tension because I feel this is extremely underutilized when trying to work lagging parts. Keep it simple; remember your body cannot tell the difference between 20 lbs. and 200 lbs. Just keep good form! If you’re using lighter weights then use a cadence of 3 count concentric 5 count eccentric. If you are using a little bit heavier of a weight or if your into your second set of a superset then use a 1 count concentric and 2 count eccentric.
Here are some examples of exercises I use a lot when working the arms:
Warm up
Biceps
o Dumbell Curls 2x 15 using 3 to 5 TUT
o Machine Curls 2x 15 using 3 to 5 TUT
Triceps
o Rope Push Down 2x 15 using 3 to 5 TUT
o Machine Triceps Extension 2x 15 using 3 to 5 TUT
Heavy Set
Biceps
o Straight Bar Curl 4x 8 using 1 to 2 TUT
o Seated Straight Bar Curl 4x 8 using 1 to 2 TUT
Triceps
o Close Grip Press 4x 8 1 to 2 TUT
o Incline Close Grip Press 4x 8 1 to 2 TUT
Routine Set
Biceps
o Easy bar curl using closer grip 4x 12 using 1 to 2 TUT
o Spider Curl 4x 12 using 1 to 2 TUT
Triceps
o V-Bar Curl 4x 12 using 1 to 2 TUT
o Overhead Straight Bar Extension 4x 12 using 1 to 2 TUT
Detail Set
Biceps
o Incline DB Curl 4x 15 using 1 to 2 TUT
o Scoop Curls 4x 15 using 1 to 2 TUT
Triceps
o Skull Crushers 4x 15 using 1 to 2 TUT
o Body Weight Dips 4x 15 using 1 to 2 TUT
Supersets & Triple Sets
Biceps
o Superset: Seated BB Curl 3x8 with standing BB Curl 3x 20
o Triple Set: Preacher Curl/1 arm Hammer Curl/ Rev. Grip BB Curl 4x 10/10/10
Triceps
o Superset: Incline Close grip press 4x8 with Overhead Straight Bar Extension 4x 20
o Triple Set: Skull crusher/ Close grip press/ Dips 4x 12/15/20
Remember I DO NOT do all of these in one day!! These are just some of my favorites that I throw into my routine. I typically do 1 heavy exercise per body part then about 2 routine exercises followed by a couple detail exercises. If I’m feeling froggy then I’ll skip the detail exercises and throw in a superset or triple set at the end. OR if I’m feeling really crazy I’ll perform a heavy movement, followed by a routine movement, then a detailed movement, then a crazy triple set!! Hopefully you guys can achieve the coveted “Angel Arms”.
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