“I can’t build my arms like guys who have short arms.Phil Heath’s arms in contest shape are 21 inches, but look 24 inches; same with Dexter’s. I have a six-foot wingspan. When my biceps and triceps get stupid, my arms will be 24 and change, but I want striations all the way around. Going for just the biggest arms would straight-up kill me, because they wouldn’t have the detail I need to win onstage.”
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BULGING BICEPS
BARBELL CURL
“Big biceps aren’t
about how much weight you can curl; they’re about using perfect form and making sure you aren’t using delts, back or anything besides the biceps.”
“I put my elbows in front of my body, almost resting on my lats, and curl up slowly and contract hard at the top.”
“I like to keep barbell curls as a standard in my biceps routine; machines, not so much. That fixed position doesn’t feel right to me, because my arms are so long.”
ABCS TO THE PERFECT ALTERNATING DUMBBELL CURL
Supinate your wrists on the way up.
Get that peak contraction at the top of every rep.
Let gravity pull the arm down slowly, don’t drop the weight back to the starting position.
Lower the dumbbells to the point right before your arms are straight. This will keep the tension on the biceps, and constant tension equals more muscle growth.
ONE-ARM PREACHER CURL
“This is an advanced exercise that I use for peaking and shaping the biceps.”
“My biceps training is tailored toward adding height and width. I’m not looking for north and south, I’m after that east and west.”
“You lose some of the resistance at the top, so you want to keep the biceps working by flexing hard.”
“Arnold used this exercise for peaking, but this is a great ending movement for overall biceps development. I make sure I’m spent by the time
CONCENTRATION CURL
“Arnold used this
exercise for peaking, but this is a great ending movement for overall biceps development. I make sure I’m spent by the time I get to this to totally exhaust the muscle.”
“This can help develop a greater mind-muscle connection. That’s why I don’t train covered up: I want to see my muscles move and make sure they’re pumping and shaping up right.”
“If I can’t make a muscle while I’m curling, I’m going too heavy. It’s imperative to form a solid mind-muscle connection that will work every area of the muscle.”
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TALKIN’ TRICEPS
ROPE PUSHDOWN
“I never
did rope [pushdowns], because I wasn’t good at them. That changed in 2006, because I realized that I needed to develop my outer-triceps heads more.”
“When I start, my hands are outside of my waist, and when I finish, they’re outside of my shoulders. My hands are three feet apart at the bottom.”
“If you’ve never tried this method, do it. It’s insane. I try to make things harder to shock my muscles and never allow them to become content. That’s the key to growth, for me anyway.”
ONE-ARM OVERHEAD EXTENSION
“I use this as a ‘finishing’ movement. I often pair it in a superset with kickbacks.”
“I don’t go heavy, because that can take away the objective here: sculpt the triceps. This exercise is supposed to add detail.”
“Another thing about going too heavy — momentum can creep in. Minimizing momentum makes the muscle work harder.”
DIP
“A good way
to add the detail you want in your tri’s. This is something people need to do more often.”
“Concentrate on keeping the elbows in close to your body.”
“Keep your head and torso upright to take your chest out of the movement, and squeeze your triceps at the top.”
ONE-ARM CABLE PUSHDOWN
“This is the last movement I’ll do, and I try to hit multiple angles to incorporate parts of the muscle that would normally be left alone. It’s a great way to jump-start growth.”
“First, I start by going across the body. Then, I do a set going straight down. Last, I do a 180 and go back across my head.”
“I have long arms and skinny wrists, so I feel more stable grabbing the ball instead of using a handle. Being comfortable allows me to concentrate on flexing my triceps instead of avoiding angles that cause wrist pain, which I experience with handles.” FLEX
