As you delve
into my Furyan Strength regiment, you will see that I have a day completely
dedicated to training my arms. I list it as “Biceps & Triceps” to make it
sound more scientific as opposed to just “Arms.” I consider Biceps and Triceps
to be one of the “fun” days when it comes to my workout. My method is slightly
different than most in that I have isolated my exercises where I do not do a traditional
“Back & Biceps” day and a “Chest & Triceps” day. You are already
working your triceps when you are doing a bench press so in a sense I am
working them twice here. I just like giving my arms a unique training day all
to themselves. Now, this new configuration was not refined and dialed in until
approximately Week 64 of my training which just goes to show that no matter how
long we have done something, there is always something new to learn and you
have to be constantly evaluating and dialing in the perfect program for your
wants and needs. So this is what I do and this is why I do it.
I find that
there are three key things when it comes to training the biceps and the
triceps: 1) Variation of Exercise, 2) Elbow Position, and 3) Grip Style. Stick
with me here as we walk through this.
“Biceps” by
its very definition means “two-head.” Yes, that means “triceps” translates to
“three-head.” What I have attempted to do in the circuits of my exercises is
stagger the individual lifts so that the biceps are being attacked from
multiple angles but not in back to back exercises. I have attempted to do the
same with the triceps.
So first,
let’s talk biceps. Biceps has a short head and a long head and we need to
exercises that stimulate both of these muscles. I have tried to stagger the
exercises so that neither head is front loaded with exercises so that you burn
out quickly. By staggering the exercises this way, I think you can get more out
of a single session because fatigue is lessened.
Now let’s
really define what we are talking about.
Step 1: Elbows – “Let’s go, people! I want to
see @$$holes and elbows!”
For the
record, I was quoting Sgt. Apone from Aliens
in the header. Please don’t take that as an invitation to send me pictures of your balloon knot.
Okay, so Step 1, take your elbows and put them in front of you like you. If you
are sitting at a computer reading this, place your elbows on the wrist pad in
front of your computer. Imagine you are sitting at a preacher curl station and
perform a few curl reps Now, place your elbows at your side and perform a few
reps. Lastly (and this is the position often ignored), angle your elbows behind
you and perform your curls. Feel the dramatic difference?
When your
elbows are behind you, the long head of the biceps gets a much stronger
contraction. Conversely, when you are sitting at a preacher curl and your
elbows are in front of you, the short head gets the bulk of the contraction.
Keeping with this theory in mind, I have constructed the circuits so that you
alternate between a neutral elbow position, a forward elbow position, and a
rear elbow position. By performing these exercises the way they are staggered,
you are not hitting that forward position three times in a row and then getting
overly burned out with fatigue, compromising the rest of your exercises.
Step 2: Grip Width – “Insert a Funny Headline”
Much the same
way that elbow position is important, the width of your grip affects how the
muscles contract. A good general rule of thumb is that you want to do the
majority of your exercises with a grip width that is even with your shoulders.
Barbell curls with your hands at shoulder width is the best way to go and you
never want to neglect that basic lift. But if you have that lift down, then it
helps to attack the muscles with some variation. The layman explanation is the
wider the grip is the more the inside of the arms get worked and the closer
together the hands are will work the outside of the arms more.
Step 3: Grip Style – Don’t Google the “Western
Grip” technique
How you
position your hands is also critical when it comes to how the muscles are worked.
If you are looking at the back of your hands, that is the “Pronated” grip. If your palms are facing in, that is a
“Neutral” grip. And if you are looking at the palms of hands, that is the
“Supinated” grip. I am willing to bet that somewhere in this blog I typed
“supinated” when I meant “pronated.” Or you can tell yourself, underhand,
overhand, and neutral. Just a quick round of experimentation in the gym with
some dumbbells and you are going to feel the difference.
Now, the
triceps are a whole other animal. By definition, a triceps has three heads and
each head needs to get targeted. Here is an easy way to look at the triceps.
Any sort of extension over your head works the inside of your arm. Any sort of
exercise where you are pushing weight down, works the outside of your arm. So I
have tried to alternate the circuits where you are pushing over your head and
then pushing down. The third head is that horseshoe shape that shows up between
the inner and outer heads. You can target that by performing a Reverse Grip
Pulldown.
All of these exercises are to build the arms but I
never want to stack a workout with several exercises that are too similar. You
get more muscles stimulus by attacking the muscles from multiple angles. I
believe you will see more growth and progress by performing 5 different types
of curls for 3 sets each than you will if you do 3 different types of curls for
5 sets each.
Remember, we are bodybuilders, not powerlifters. You
want good tone all over your body so we are trying to do a full body workout.
This is achieved by multiple exercise types.
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