One thing that has been a constant for Eduardo Correa—regardless of the size and weight of his fellow competitors—has been his conditioning. The man comes in peeled to each and every show that he enters and, of course, a major component of that has been the definition in his arms. When a bodybuilder takes the time to accentuate every line and cut in body parts big and small, it usually results in the biceps and triceps getting a lot of accolades, even if he doesn’t have to work as hard to get there.
“My arms have always responded well to any kind of stimulation I have offered them,” Correa says, perhaps uncovering a bit of information that comes as a surprise and the type of statement to garner a lot of jealousy amongst his brethren. “It was never a concern or a priority in my training.”
Even with that type of advantage, Correa must still work his arms hard to keep them as one of his strong points in his stage presentation. But because he can get a lot out of them in that fashion, he can put his arms on the back burner, if you will, while planning his weekly workout schedule.
“Because I obtain good results with simple and sporadic work, I don’t see the need to spend a whole day training them or work them twice a week,” Correa says. “I always combine them with another body part.”
CORREA'S TRAINING SPLIT
DAY 1: LEGS
DAY 2: CHEST AND BICEPS
DAY 3: OFF
DAY 4: BACK
DAY 5: LEGS
DAY 6: SHOULDERS AND TRICEPS
DAY 7: OFF
In his current routine, Correa will hit his bi’s after chest, and a few days later in the week, he will train shoulders and tri’s. Here, a breakdown of his full arms routine.
BICEPS
EZ-BARBELL CURL: Correa begins his arm routine after completing his chest workout and starts things off with a staple movement, albeit with a twist. Standing curls go way back to the beginning of weightlifting, but Correa can get a longer range of motion by using an EZ bar instead of a straight barbell.
PREACHER CURL: This movement takes out any of the shoulder involvement in the curl and is a great isolation exercise to bring out the peak in the biceps. Correa gets a really deep stretch at the bottom of each rep and squeezes it at the top, utilizing the angled bench.
SEATED CONCENTRATION CURL: This is another movement many bodybuilders have been using for decades; Correa takes special advantage of it by using a lighter weight (37 pounds/ 17 kilograms) and going extra slowly. This allows the blood to flow into the muscle even more and maximizes the pump.
HAMMER CABLE CURL: Correa performs a great finishing move for the last three of his 10 sets for biceps on the cable machine, and uses a neutral grip to work the outer biceps and the brachialis muscles.
CORREA'S BICEPS WORKOUT
EZ-BARBELL CURL, 3 sets, 10 reps
PREACHER CURL, 2 sets, 10 reps
CONCENTRATION CURL, 2 sets, 10 reps
HAMMER CABLE CURL, 3 sets, 12 reps
TRICEPS
TRICEPS EXTENSIONS: The second half of Correa’s arm routine is paired with shoulders, so his triceps are already warmed up by the time he gets to the first movement. By doing triceps extensions first, Correa has a multitude of options—using a dumbbell, straight bar, or EZ bar; and doing them seated, standing, or prone.
CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS: A great exercise to build mass is also the one where Correa uses more than 250 pounds to do three sets of 10 reps. The extra weight gives him the added resistance needed to bring out his tri’s even more in this compound movement.
SINGLE-ARM CABLE PUSHDOWN: An isolation movement that involves a long range of motion is next for Correa. People sometimes overlook these, but they can be done palms up or palms down to give them a kickback feel.
DIPS: These are great even when done with just your own body weight, but Correa chooses to add more than 200 extra pounds to complete his triceps in style. He will push it to the limit by performing two sets of 15–20 reps, and he goes down deep on every rep.
