It’s January and you’re fired up for 2017. Your goal is simple: get freaking huge! But before you step in the gym and get after it, you need to arm yourself with the right routines. That’s where we come in. We’ve compiled workouts from some of the greatest bodybuilders to ever cinch up a weightlifting belt and answer the challenge of the iron.  So put your game face on, turn up the volume on your favorite training tunes, and make 2017 your year for packing on wall-to-wall muscle.

ARMS: Ronnie Coleman

14flex_ronnie coleman_cable curl_inset
Comprised of a collection of cartoonish body parts to form one 297-pound überfreak, eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman appeared in this series for chest (check it out) and returns for a bonus arm workout (he could easily have been on back, legs, or shoulders, too). Before Coleman’s torso and lower limbs became the biggest and baddest in the land during his Olympia reign from 1998 to 2005, his guns, with their double-split biceps peaks, hanging triceps, super-separation, and vascularity (what normal folk would describe as “disgusting”), ranked at or near the top of the sport.

In fact, early in his career, Coleman, who trained every body part twice weekly, had to limit his fast-growing biceps to one workout every seven days to prevent them from overpowering his physique. A Coleman favorite was 21s, where he would perform seven reps of barbell curls using only the bottom third of the movement, then seven reps using the top third of the movement, and finally, seven reps using the full range, all performed with no rest for a total of 21 total reps. Biceps were trained after back, and triceps after chest.

THE WORKOUT: BICEPS

WORKOUT A*

  • Barbell curl: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
  • Dumbbell curl: 3 sets of 10-12 reps
  • Preacher curl: 3 sets of 10-12 reps
  • Cable curl: 3 sets of 10-12 reps

WORKOUT B*

  • Preacher curl: 3 sets of 12-15 reps
  • Incline dumbbell curl: 3 sets of 12-15 reps
  • High cable curl: 3 sets of 12-15 reps
  • Concentration curl: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

*Each workout was performed once per week after back.

THE WORKOUT: TRICEPS

WORKOUT A*

  • Lying extension: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
  • Overhead dumbbell extension: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
  • Close-grip bench press: 4 sets of 10-12 reps
  • Cable curl: 3 sets of 10-12 reps

WORKOUT B*

  • Overhead extension: 4 sets of 12-15 reps
  • 1-arm overhead dumbbell extension: 4 sets of 12-15 reps
  • Machine dips: 4 sets of 12-15 reps

*Each workout was performed once per week after chest.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE "NEW YEAR, NEW MUSCLE" SERIES

 

Topics: