Add size and strength to your biceps and triceps while also building a
bigger and stronger chest with this four-week workout plan
To
make major changes to how you look with your shirt off, you need to take
your training to a higher level. While there’s no substitute for hard
graft if you want to build up your body fast, you’re only as ever as
effective as your training plan. After all, working hard without
following a smart plan will only return a small percentage of the
benefits you could achieve when you work hard and smart at the same
time.
This month’s four-week workout has been designed to help you add serious size to your arms and chest quickly and effectively by dedicating more training time to these muscle groups. In the first block of the plan your arms get special attention, while in the second block your chest gets more time under the bar. This approach will hit these muscles hard to force them to grow bigger, while also building up all your other major muscle groups and stripping away fat.
Biceps -
Barbell Curl - Standing. Keep your back straight and take an underhand grip on the bar with your hands slightly more than
shoulder-width apart:
- Inhale, then curl the barbell
- Contract the gluteal, abdominal and back muscles isometrically to avoid torso swing
- Exhale as you complete the movement
Dumbbell Curl - Sit on a bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing inward:
- Inhale and raise one arm at a time, turning the palm up
- Raise your elbow to continue curling the dumbbell
-Don't swing as you raise your arm
Hammer Curl - Stand or sit. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing inward:
- Inhale and curl the dumbbells to your shoulders,
either simultaneously or alternately
- Exhale as you complete the movement
This is the best exercise for the brachioradialis. It also works the biceps.
Concentration Curl - Sit on a bench. Hold a dumbbell with an underhand grip and rest
your elbow on the inner side of your thigh:
- Inhale and curl the dumbbell
- Exhale as you complete the movement
This isolation exercise allows you to control the range, speed,
and alignment of the movement. It works mainly the biceps, brachialis, and brachioradialis.
Reverse Curl - Stand with your feet slightly apart and your arms straight, using an overhand grip (thumbs toward each other):
- Inhale and curl the bar
- Exhale as you complete the movement
This exercise works the extensors of the wrist and fingers. It works the brachioradialis, brachialis, and, to a lesser degree, the biceps.
Preacher Curl - Stand or sit with your arms resting on the bench:
- Inhale and curl the bar
- Exhale as you complete the movement
Triceps -
Triceps Pushdown - Stand facing the machine with your hands on the bar and your elbows against your sides:
- Inhale and straighten your arms, but don't separate
your elbows from your sides
- Exhale as you complete the movement
This isolation exercise works the triceps and the anconeus.
You can perform an effective variation of this movement
with a rope instead of the bar to work the lateral head of
the triceps more intensely.
Lying Triceps Extension - Lie on a flat bench holding a dumbbell in each hand (can also be done with a bar) with your arms extended straight up from your shoulders:
- Inhale and slowly bend your arms
- Return to the starting position, exhaling as you complete the movement
Triceps Kickback - Stand with your knees slightly flexed, bending forward at the waist, and keeping your back straight. Press your upper arm against your side. Bend your arm at a 90-degree angle:
- Inhale and straighten your arm
- Exhale as you complete the movement
Arm workout -
Functional warm up.
Bicep Curls - 4 sets, 4-6 reps
Hammer Curls - 4 sets, 4-6 reps
Concentration Curls - 4 sets, 4-6 reps
Bicep Curls (sitting on a bench) - 3 sets, to failure each time
Lying Triceps Extension - 4 sets, 4-6 reps
Triceps Pushdown - 4 sets, 4-6 reps
Triceps Kickback - 4 sets, 4-6 reps
Dips - 3 sets, 12 reps per set (or as many as you can do)