Brickhouse Gym Training Series: Armageddon – 3 Tips for Triceps and Biceps Training
Building a massive and muscular physique is all-encompassing (especially with triceps & biceps training). You cannot have one body part dominate all the others and expect to take on a larger than life appearance. This means ample focus and energy must be applied to each individual body part equally so that symmetry and balance can ensue and your overall growth is dispersed appropriately.
That said, there is a body part which most if not all will agree can never be too big; your arms. No one will ever look at your arms and say they are too big for the rest of your body and for that reason, you need to be doing all that you can with your biceps training and triceps training to get into new dimensions of growth each time you train them.
To help you out with adding onto this feature of your physique, here are some top tips for achieving Armageddon status.
Brickhouse Gym Tip #1: Frequency and Volume
The biceps and triceps are relatively smaller muscle groups by comparison to say the chest, back or the legs. That means it doesn’t take a whole lot of weight or heavy loads to induce growth with biceps training and triceps training but what they do require to grow is a lot of volume and stimulus more often than their bigger counterparts.
So in keeping this in mind, when you construct your training program it should include at least two sessions per week for arms; one which is focused on arm training only and a second that has you training biceps right after your back day and triceps after either training chest or shoulders. The arm only training day needs to include at least four exercises per muscle group and anywhere between 16 to 20 sets in total for each.
The second session should be a pump focused workout whereby you complete one or two biceps training and triceps training exercises and just focus on achieving as big of a pump as possible in two to three sets per exercise. This approach should garner you some new results very quickly.
Brickhouse Gym Tip #2: Work through All ROM
You have most likely read or heard about the importance of working each muscle through a full range of motion when you train. The benefits of doing so are well documented and have elicited phenomenal gains for everyone that adheres to it. However, there may come a time when your gains come to a halt and something new is necessary to trigger new growth.
That’s why, when it comes to arm training, don’t be afraid to work the biceps and triceps through multiple ranges of motion. You don’t always have to go to a full stretch and peak contraction with each repetition you complete. Sometimes work the top half for biceps or just the bottom half. When training triceps and performing an exercise such as a close grip bench press, it always feels better just working on the top half and the lockout.
You can also mix up the ranges during a set by incorporating popular workouts such as 21’s. The important note to take away from this approach is to work your muscles through a range or multiple ranges that allows you to really connect with the muscle, feel that deep burn, get that great pump and be happy with the outcome of each set you complete of biceps training and triceps training.
Brickhouse Gym Tip #3: Angles For Triceps & Biceps Training
One of the best tips you can use here for creating a new stimulus for your biceps training and triceps training (and really any muscle group) is to hit them at multiple angles. The elbow joint is a lever joint which means it has a fulcrum that is capable of pulling and pushing from multiple positions. To take advantage of this, your weight training sessions should be focused on targeting the biceps and triceps from as many different angles as possible.
It’s as simple as keeping your elbows positioned down by your sides or moving them to shoulder height or keeping them down and back or out in front or above your head. All the different machines you have available to you here at Brickhouse Gym are designed to take into account that fulcrum we are talking about and position you by design in all of those different lever joint manipulations, so make sure you are using all of them.
Remember, the more angles you use, the more opportunity you give yourself for inducing a new stimulus for the biceps and triceps which means new muscle growth.
Now, there are many different exercises you can use when training the biceps and triceps and all of them certainly can have a place within your programs at different times. The most important thing to keep in mind however is how you use these exercises and which strategies you apply within the workout itself.
The three mentioned above will most certainly add to your training session and will hopefully spark new gains for you. As long as you employ these tips with the necessary intensity it takes to grow, larger than life arms could very well be in your future as you blast off into your own version of Armageddon.
Author: Dana Bushell
Gym Star Team Member
