Up for a Quickie?
3 Quick and Dirty Ways to Accelerate Your Gains
by Christian Thibaudeau


Hey, are you in the mood for a quickie? No, zip up your pants, that's
not what I'm talking about at all. What follows are three quick methods
to break plateaus and maximize your gains in the shortest time possible.


1. The power biceps blast
This is a biceps triple set that I've used with several football players.
You may be asking yourself, "what does a football player need with big
biceps?" While the biceps aren't exactly the most important muscle
group for football performance, it does serve three main purposes:

• The biceps are involved in many pulling
movements that are often used by defensive linemen to separate themselves
from their adversaries, and the biceps are also useful when tackling.

• They help protect the elbow joint from the
high levels of force produced by the triceps during the pushing actions
involved in football.

• Intimidation, baby! Visually impressive
arms will always give a psychological advantage to a player. Plus,
if you feel good about the way you look, it will make you more confident,
and that itself will help you become a better player.

Have guns, will tackle.
So while building huge guns should not be a priority for athletes, it
isn't something that should be completely dismissed either. And before
all the "performance" dudes jump on my back, let me reaffirm my belief
that yes, if you're going to have an athlete train a muscle, you should
definitely have him train it in a way that will help his game.
That's why I designed this biceps program. Much to my surprise, it turned
out to be one of the most effective I've ever used! So much so that I
began to use it with bodybuilding clients too!
The routine is fairly simple. It starts with a triple set in which the
first exercise is a potentiation movement (an exercise used to activate
the nervous system so that you can ''turn on'' more fast-twitch fibers)
followed by the main strength-building movement. The triple set is then
concluded with a metabolic exercise performed at high speed, to improve
power-endurance and coordination.
The set goes as follow:

A1. Barbell curl drop, catch and lift
This is a plyometric exercise for the biceps. You drop the bar from
the starting position and let it free-fall down. You catch it with the
elbows bent at a 90-degree angle. Now, the key point here is to abruptly halt
the bar. In other words, stop it immediately after catching it.
You do so by contracting the biceps and forearms as hard as humanly possible,
as soon as your hands contact the bar. Once you've caught
the bar stiffly, you lift it back up to the starting position.

5-6 reps
10 seconds rest

A2. Incline DB curl

6-8 reps
10 seconds rest

A3. High-speed curl with elastic tubing
Here, the goal is to perform as many reps as possible in a given time
frame, so the reps must be explosive! Make sure to perform the
movement solely by using the biceps. Don't cheat by using your front
deltoids as many people tend to do when trying to get a little extra
speed.

Max reps in 30 seconds
3 minutes rest
Perform this triple set four times.

B1. Single arm isometric barbell curl
In this exercise, you hold the barbell in the 90-degree position for
20-30 seconds. If you can hold it longer than that, increase the weight.
It's very important to not just hold the weight, but to squeeze the
biceps as hard as you can during the whole set.

4 sets
Hold for 20-30 seconds per arm
120 seconds rest

B2. Machine curl 2/1 technique
This is an eccentric overload movement: lift explosively with two arms,
and lower the weight in 5 seconds with one arm. Change the lowering arm
every rep.

4 sets
3-4 reps per arm (6-8 total reps)
120 seconds rest
B1 and B2 are performed alternatively (one set B1, one set B2, one set
B1, one set B2, etc.), but not as a superset: rest for two minutes between
exercises.
This program will allow you to improve tremendously the strength and
size of your arm flexors. You'll improve strength in all types of contractions:

Reactive/ballistic
Concentric
Explosive
Isometric
Eccentric
This will give you a better transfer to sports performance.


2. Thib's Arms of Steel workout
As long as we're talking arms, here's the program that's been my ''old
standby'' every time new arm growth and strength has been desired. It's
never let me down: whenever it was called for duty it always delivered
the goods. I'm therefore pretty confident about giving it the ironclad
Thib guarantee of new growth! But be warned: it's a highly stressful
program, especially if you have small joints, so it shouldn't be used
for more than 4 weeks, and never more frequently than twice a year.
This workout is based on heavy lifting, and is best suited for a period
of high caloric intake.

A1. Partial close-grip bench press
This movement really allows you to pile on the weight! And since the
triceps are mostly involved in the last portion of the pressing range
of motion, even partial movements like this one will have a strong stimulatory
effect. Start each rep from a dead start (bar set on pins).

1 x 6, 1 x 4, 1 x 2, 1 x 6, 1 x 4, 1 x 2, 1 x 6, 1 x 4,
1 x 2 (9 total sets)
120 seconds rest