3 Easy Arm Exercises To Trash Your Guns
Everybody wants bigger arms and we get that. But the thing many
dedicated bodybuilders tend to forget is that regardless of how great it
feels to have greatly developed biceps, you shouldn’t neglect the rest
of the muscles in the arm
In fact, if you want to build truly admirable arms, you need to train
every muscle in the arm with the same volume and intensity as you do
your biceps. Nobody admires guys with ridiculous muscle imbalances, so
it’s crucial to create a balanced approach to training arms that won’t
leave any muscle behind. Here are our suggestions
Arm Training for Maximal Growth
Tricep Dips
Enter the king of triceps builders. Tricep dips help you target all
three triceps heads at once with a heavy load which translates to a
maximal recruitment of muscle fibers and more growth
Dips are complex in that they require movement of a number of joints
and thereby promote the development of multiple muscle groups at the
same time. So before even thinking of doing triceps isolation exercises,
give your triceps a nice burn with this potent move. Depending on your
level of strength, you can perform triceps dips on a bench or using a
set of parallel bars, mostly found on an assisted pull-up/dip machine.
If you’re a beginner, start with a weight that’s roughly two thirds of
your original body weight until you get the hang of it
How to
Approach the machine with your arms fully extended on both sides, then
wrap your fingers around the outside of the parallel bars with your
thumbs on the inside
Your wrists should be angled so that they allow the elbows to bend
backwards
Hold your body at arm’s length with arms nearly locked above the
bars
Slowly lower yourself down with an upright torso until your biceps
touch your forearms and your triceps are fully stretched. The elbows
should stay close to your body
Press yourself up, squeezing your triceps
If you’re a beginner, perform 3 sets of 8-10 reps. As your strength
increases, progress to 5 sets of 10 reps
Rope Triceps Pushdown
The triceps pushdown is a thorough and balanced exercise which should
be an essential part of any triceps program. It hits all three heads of
the triceps, but emphasizes the lateral and medial heads slightly more
than the long one, while also working your shoulders, abs and upper
back. If used regularly, this move will help you build stronger and more
toned triceps with the much sought-after ‘horse shoe’ shape. While there
are many ways do it, performing it with a rope attachment helps isolate
the triceps better and achieve optimal contraction
Additionally, the rope enables you to target fibers that lie deep
within the triceps and move through a greater range of motion. In fact,
one 2011 study found that the rope triceps pushdown was more effective
than the bar pushdown when it comes to recruiting triceps muscle fibers
How to
Pick a moderate weight and attach a rope attachment to a high pulley on
a cable machine
Grab both ends of the rope with a neutral grip (palms facing each
other) and stand upright with a straight torso and a very slight
inclination forward
Bring the upper arms close to your body and have your forearms point up
towards the pulley
Squeeze the triceps and pull the rope down, bringing each side of the
rope away from the other and to the side of your thighs until your arms
are fully extended and perpendicular to the floor. Only the forearms
should move while the upper arms remain stationary and close to the
torso in order to eliminate any momentum
Hold for a second then bring the rope to the starting position
Perform 5 sets of 12-15 reps
Preacher Curls
As far as bicep exercises go, preacher curls are somewhere on the top
of the list, especially when you’re looking to fully isolate the biceps.
They don’t require heavy weights, are immune to cheating and are the
single best way to build a mighty biceps’ peak which will make your arms
appear much bigger and fuller. You can perform this exercise with
dumbbells, a cable pulley, a barbell or EZ curl bar. When using a bar, a
wide grip will help you emphasize the short head while a narrow grip
will place more stress on the long head
How to
Find a preacher bench and rest your upper arms on the preacher bench
pad with your chest firmly against it
Grab an EZ curl bar (have someone hand you the bar or grab it from the
front bar rest) at the close inner handle with your hands slightly
tilted inwards
Keeping the chest and arms firmly in place, hold the bar at shoulder
length
Slowly lower the bar until your upper arms are fully extended and your
biceps are fully stretched
Squeeze the biceps and curl the weight up to the starting position, in
line with your shoulders. Hold this position for a couple of seconds,
then start lowering the bar again
Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Overhead extensions work great for adding mass to the triceps by
targeting all three heads but emphasizing the long head. But the unique
benefit of performing overhead extensions with a dumbbell is that this
version allows you to isolate all three individual triceps heads to a
degree unmatched by a straight bar
Furthermore, if you modify the movement by doing isometric holds at few
different points in the range of motion, you can get extra benefits such
as improving scapular retraction, correcting poor scapular stability and
increasing the range of motion of the shoulders
