Want Biceps? Stop Wasting
Your Time!
by Ellington Darden, Ph.D.
Back in the day, before bodybuilding turned into chemical warfare,
nobody had two hours a day to spend in the gym. The guys with the
top physiques had limited time and limited equipment. What they had
in abundance was a willingness to work hard for the results they
wanted.
A typical workout for guys like Steve Reeves, Clancy Ross, Leroy Colbert,
Larry Scott, or Freddie Ortiz would send one of today's Wii-playing,
Sponge
Bob-watching, wedding-stick-wanking health-club members running
to the powder room for some porcelain therapy.
And yet, those beanpole-armed guys wimping their way through their
workouts walk into the gym each day with images of baseball-size biceps
and triceps like horseshoes. They dream of 20-inch upper arms. In reality,
very few guys' arm muscles have the genetic shape to achieve proportions
like that. If you want bigger arms, you have to think and train like
the old-school guys, fighting like hell for every quarter-inch gain.
But most guys figure they'll go on a biceps-heavy program and painstakingly
add a 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch over the course of six months.
Here's my question to you:
Why take 6 months to do it when you could do the same
thing in 2 freakin' weeks?
Did you hear what I just said?
Stop. Get up and take a long look at yourself in the mirror. I'm talking
directly to you.
You've been lifting weights for several years now, and your physique
reveals only sparse development. You need to throw in the towel and
move on to something else. Or, if you're still with me . . .
try
another approach.
The catch? You'll have to do
real workouts, old-school workouts,
three times a week.
Pump action
The pump doesn't get much respect these days. Smart guys refer to
it as "accumulating byproducts of fatigue." The bodybuilders from the
1950s and '60s didn't describe it that way, but it was their best and
most reliable way to induce small but measurable gains in their arm
muscles.
To get that pump, it's important to mix and match exercises, never
allowing your biceps and triceps to get used to a routine. But it's
even more important to extend your normal sets until your muscles feel
as if they're on fire. If it doesn't hurt, you aren't doing it right.
Here's how to do the following workouts:
• You'll train three times a week, on nonconsecutive
days, for two weeks. You'll do three different workouts, repeating
them in the second week.
• Each workout features a three-exercise cycle
for biceps and another for triceps. The exercises change each workout,
so you'll do 18 different arm exercises. The key to each cycle is that
you must do all three exercises with no rest in between. That means
you have to set up everything you need before you start the first exercise.
• You'll only do one set of each exercise, using
the most weight possible for 8 to 12 repetitions. It's very important
to "go for the burn" on each arm exercise.
• In addition to the six arm exercises, you'll
do four other exercises, for a total of 10 exercises per workout. On
these exercises, do one all-out set of 8 to 12 reps. Rest only as long
as it takes to break down your equipment from one exercise and set
up for the next.
• The program works best if you have a training
partner. That way, you each have someone to spot and help you change
the weights faster than either of you could do it solo. Just make sure
that one guy completes an entire three-exercise cycle for biceps or
triceps before the other begins. Whoever goes first can recover while
spotting the training partner. When you finish with the biceps and
triceps cycles, you can alternate the remaining exercises in the usual
way — you do your set, and then recover while your training partner
does his.
Workout 1
Triceps cycle:
Bench press with underhand, shoulder-width grip. No rest.
Bench press with overhand, normal-width grip. No rest.
Bench press with wide grip. Rest two minutes as you set up for the
biceps cycle.
Biceps cycle:
Barbell curl with narrow grip. No rest.
Barbell curl with normal grip. No rest.
Barbell curl with wide grip. Rest two minutes.
Other exercises:
Barbell back squat
Calf raise on machine (any variation you choose)
Sit-up on incline board
Barbell wrist curl
Workout 2
Biceps cycle:
Barbell reverse curl. No rest.
Dumbbell hammer curl. No rest.
Dumbbell Zottman curl. Rest two minutes as you set up for the triceps
cycle.
Triceps cycle:
Triceps pushdown with straight bar, underhand grip. No rest.
Triceps pushdown with straight bar, overhand grip. No rest.
Triceps pushdown with rope attachment. Rest two minutes.
Other exercises:
Barbell stiff-legged deadlift
Barbell shrug
Barbell shoulder press
Barbell reverse wrist curl
Workout 3
Biceps cycle:
Dumbbell preacher curl. No rest.
Barbell preacher curl. No rest.
Very slow negative chin-up, one repetition lasting 30 to 60 seconds.
Rest two minutes as you set up for the triceps cycle.
Triceps cycle:
Barbell lying triceps extension. No rest.
Dumbbell standing triceps extension, one dumbbell held in both hands.
No rest.
Very slow negative dip, one repetition lasting 30 to 60 seconds. Rest
two minutes.
Other exercises:
Leg curl on machine
Leg extension on machine
Dumbbell lateral raise
Dumbbell side bend
When you repeat the workouts in the second week, it's crucial that
you make progress — more weight or more reps of each exercise.
How To Do the Exercises
Workout 1
Triceps cycle
Bench press variations
Here's a novel way to do bench presses that stresses the triceps in
a slightly different way. Set up as you normally would, but grab the
bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip, and hold it with straight
arms over your chest. Keep your elbows close to your sides as you lower
it slowly to your chest.
Touch your chest with the bar and then, without pausing, reverse the
movement and press the bar back to the starting position.
Remember, you aren't powerlifting here. You're not trying to break
a record. The goal is to accumulate fatigue by pumping your arms full
of blood. So you need slow reps with smooth transition from lowering
to lifting and back to lowering.
When you finish the set, take 20 percent of the weight off the bar
as quickly as you can. It helps to think this through in advance, and
remember to use plates that allow quick removal. (Obviously, a training
partner helps with this part of the process.)
Do the next set with your normal, overhand grip. Take another 20 percent
off the bar, and finish with your hands about a foot wider
— six inches per side — than they were for the normal-width
set.
This is a real gut-check moment for you. Your triceps are deeply fatigued,
but with the shortened range of motion due to the wide grip, you'll
be able to force out another set. Don't worry about slow and smooth
here; you'll have to go fast to knock out 8 to 12 reps.
Biceps cycle
Barbell curl variations
You can use a seven-foot Olympic bar, a shorter Olympic bar, or an
EZ-curl bar. Use about 30 percent less weight than you normally would
for 10 reps.
Grab the bar underhand with your pinkies about four inches apart.
Stand with a slightly wider-than-normal stance for balance. Bend forward
at the hips about 45 degrees. Let your arms hang straight down so they're
perpendicular to the floor.
Now do 8 to 12 reps at a deliberate speed, with smooth transitions
from lifting to lowering and back to lifting.
When you've done as many reps as you can, set the barbell down on
the floor. Don't change the weight.
Reach down and grab the bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip.
This time you'll stand upright as you do your curls, rather than bending
forward. Anchor your elbows firmly against the sides of your waist
and keep them there. Curl the barbell deliberately and smoothly for
8 to 12 reps.
When you've done the last one, try to do one more. (This actually
applies to every exercise in this program.) When you can't get one
more, set the bar down. Don't change the weight.
Reach down and grab the bar underhand with a wide grip —
you want your pinkies about 24 inches apart. Stand upright, and this
time start with your elbows bent slightly and pulled back so they're
behind your torso. As with the wide-grip bench presses, you want
to shorten your range of motion, since they're almost completely
fatigued.
As you curl the bar upward, keep it near your torso. There's an intense
sweet spot in the middle of the range of motion you'd use in a normal
curl, and that's all you're trying to hit here — forget about
the bottom and top. Don't worry about rep speed on this final exercise.
Just get through the set, and then admire your pump while you can.
Accueil 
