Training arms for muscle hypertrophy

by | Feb 28, 2014 | Uncategorized

This is a tip for people who want to increase the size of their arms. If you have hypertrophy goals you should vary your training to overload the muscle and shock it into growth! An effective way to do this is to superset isolation exercises which have a focus on the muscle contraction with isolation exercises that have a stretch focus – because they have different strength curves and by training this way you will work the muscles through a greater range of movement. Supersets are also one of the best ways to increase the time the muscle is kept under tension in each set you do, which is important for hypertrophy.

Here is a superset for biceps and another for triceps which I use in my own training:

Biceps – Straight Bar Cable Curl while lying on your back (keep elbows pinned to your sides and focus on the squeezing the bicep at peak contraction) – superset with a seated Incline Offset-Grip Dumbbell Curl (focus on the stretch – contract the tricep as you push arms back behind you to stretch the long head of the bicep. Start with a hammer grip then supinate the forearm as early as possible to curl the dumbbells, turn the little finger in towards the shoulder at the top to activate the short head of the bicep to complete the supination movement).

Triceps – Straight Bar Tricep Pushdown superset with a Standing Overhead Tricep Extension, using the rope on the cable machine (focus on pushing elbows back behind you and flexing the elbow to stretch the long head of the tricep). Try 8-12 reps for biceps and 6-8 reps for triceps, but it is important to vary this and change exercises about every 6 sessions so your body doesn’t adapt.

Also each individual will respond to different rep ranges and different methods of training, depending on muscle fiber distribution and body type. It’s a common mistake to follow the workouts of professional body builders – change the exercise, volume, frequency, weight, tempo and rest time to find out what works best for you!

 

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