Every guy loves to train arms, and every guy—at one time or another—has been stymied by the two biggest arm- training pitfalls: 1) using high reps instead of heavy weight, and 2) thinking a good pump equals a good workout.
When I first started out, I was guilty of both. I’ve since learned that heavy weight is the surest path to muscle growth, and that a pump, in and of itself, is useless without muscle stress. You need to remember that the biceps and triceps are small muscles; they don’t require the same training volume that your legs, chest, and back do. This is especially true if you do heavy workouts for the squat, bench, and deadlift—like the power bodybuilding workouts I’ve provided in past issues. The biceps get a lot of secondary work when you’re doing a heavy back workout, and the triceps get plenty when you’re benching and overhead pressing.
With that in mind, the workout I provide here is real simple: It’s three exercises for biceps and three for triceps, all performed in straight sets with no supersetting. Make each set as heavy and intense as possible. If you feel you still need more volume, try a few dropsets on the final exercise for biceps and triceps.
