Sporting a set of arms reminiscent of Arnold, Larry Scott or the late Sergio Oliva takes more than just barbell curls and tricep pressdowns. While people think they performed endless sets of barbell curls, they might be surprised at how much work these bodybuilding legends had to put into their forearms. The biggest misconception newbies have is the idea that the only thing that bends the arm is the bicep, which is only partially true. The elbow flexors include the bicep, brachioradialis, brachialis and pronator teres muscles.Without reinventing the wheel, there is a whole lot you can do to help increase the size of your biceps and forearms, at the same time. Let’s stick with the basics. Putting a new twist on already-great exercises will get you the expected gains. Here are 6 easy ways of changing your workouts, without removing your favorite exercises.
2 of 7
Angles
This goes for almost every single exercise you can think of, but let’s stick with forearms and biceps here. I like to work with different angles to blast the biceps and one of my favorites is the mechanical advantage set. Here is an example:A1 – Incline dumbbell supinated curls x10 A2 – Seated dumbbell hammer curls x 10 or max A3 – Prone incline dumbbell pronated spider curls x 10 or maxThe basic premise of this technique is that you can keep the same weight for all three by only changing the angle of attack. The key is to perform the toughest exercise at the beginning while you are fresh and end with the easiest when you are at your weakest and most fatigued state.Angles are also good when doing forearms. If you do wrist flexion on an incline, the strength curve will be different than a flat surface. The incline surface will target the end of the flexion while the flat surface will target the mid range portion.
3 of 7
Thickness
My favorite part of working elbow flexors is the thick grip training and attachment. Using thick grips increases overall strength and the much-coveted thickness of the forearm muscles. My three favorite tools for this are thick barbells/dumbbells, rogue fitness cannonball grip attachments and dog bone pull-up bar, and the Gripsfear. Every possible notion you had about your grip strength is thrown out the door when you use one of these. In a matter of weeks, you’ll notice a tremendous increase in your grip and overall upper body strength.
4 of 7
Load Shifting
This is an old trick I learned from Jerry Telle. For example, when doing an incline dumbbell curl on the swiss ball, have both elbows on the swiss ball, curl the weight up while you have your back at almost 75 degrees from the floor but shift your hips up to lower the weight while having your back almost parallel to floor. This will make you use a heavier weight than usual for this exercise and help you fatigue the bottom range of the strength curve.
5 of 7
Gripping, Crushing and Fingering
Pinch blocks or just holding two plates of 25 pounds between you hands for a given amount of time will also help your grip tremendously. The stronger it is, the heavier you can go on huge lifts like deadlifts, cleans or pulls. You can go for maximum strength or for endurance.Strength: 4x 3-4 reps of 10 second holdsEndurance: 3 x 60 seconds holds of thick implements.The opposite of crushing and gripping is opening up the hand. Using small bands to work on finger extension is also a part of a massive-looking forearm. Using bands or a bucket full of sand can be a great add-on to your workout.
6 of 7
Agonist and Antagonist, Putting it All Together
Train them both in the same workout. Alternate them, superset them, isolate them, mix it all up. Here is a simple arm and forearm workout for your next arm session.A1 – Incline db tricep close grip press 5 x 8 tempo 3110 rest 45 seconds A2 – Incline db hammer curl (neutral Fat grip) 5 x 8 3110 rest 90 secondsPause at the bottom/stretched position for both.B1 – Tricep frenchpress low pulley with rope 4 x 12 tempo 2020 rest 10 seconds B2 – Rope pressdown high pulley 4 x 10 tempo 2020 rest 60 seconds B3 – Scott bench 45 degree incline ez bar pronated wide grip 4 x 12 tempo 2020 rest 10 seconds B4 – Standing barbell pronated fatgrip (or fat bar) curl 4 x 10 tempo 2020 rest 60 seconds4 sets of B1 to B4. Arms and grip should be fried.
7 of 7
Grip Work
A1 – Pinch blocks 6 reps of 10 seconds no rest A2 – Barbell bent elbow wrist flexion 8-10 tempo 3020 rest 60 secondsRepeat A1 and A2 for 3 setsB1 – Barbell wrist extension bent elbow on bench 15 reps tempo 2010 no rest B2 – Thick bar holds for 60 seconds no rest B3 – Wrist flexion behind back for 10 reps rest 120 seconds.Repeat B1 to B3 for 3 sets
Sporting a set of arms reminiscent of Arnold, Larry Scott or the late Sergio Oliva takes more than just barbell curls and tricep pressdowns. While people think they performed endless sets of barbell curls, they might be surprised at how much work these bodybuilding legends had to put into their forearms. The biggest misconception newbies have is the idea that the only thing that bends the arm is the bicep, which is only partially true. The elbow flexors include the bicep, brachioradialis, brachialis and pronator teres muscles.
Without reinventing the wheel, there is a whole lot you can do to help increase the size of your biceps and forearms, at the same time. Let’s stick with the basics. Putting a new twist on already-great exercises will get you the expected gains. Here are 6 easy ways of changing your workouts, without removing your favorite exercises.
Angles
This goes for almost every single exercise you can think of, but let’s stick with forearms and biceps here. I like to work with different angles to blast the biceps and one of my favorites is the mechanical advantage set. Here is an example:
A1 – Incline dumbbell supinated curls x10 A2 – Seated dumbbell hammer curls x 10 or max A3 – Prone incline dumbbell pronated spider curls x 10 or max
The basic premise of this technique is that you can keep the same weight for all three by only changing the angle of attack. The key is to perform the toughest exercise at the beginning while you are fresh and end with the easiest when you are at your weakest and most fatigued state.
Angles are also good when doing forearms. If you do wrist flexion on an incline, the strength curve will be different than a flat surface. The incline surface will target the end of the flexion while the flat surface will target the mid range portion.
Thickness
My favorite part of working elbow flexors is the thick grip training and attachment. Using thick grips increases overall strength and the much-coveted thickness of the forearm muscles. My three favorite tools for this are thick barbells/dumbbells, rogue fitness cannonball grip attachments and dog bone pull-up bar, and the Gripsfear. Every possible notion you had about your grip strength is thrown out the door when you use one of these. In a matter of weeks, you’ll notice a tremendous increase in your grip and overall upper body strength.
Load Shifting
This is an old trick I learned from Jerry Telle. For example, when doing an incline dumbbell curl on the swiss ball, have both elbows on the swiss ball, curl the weight up while you have your back at almost 75 degrees from the floor but shift your hips up to lower the weight while having your back almost parallel to floor. This will make you use a heavier weight than usual for this exercise and help you fatigue the bottom range of the strength curve.
Gripping, Crushing and Fingering
Pinch blocks or just holding two plates of 25 pounds between you hands for a given amount of time will also help your grip tremendously. The stronger it is, the heavier you can go on huge lifts like deadlifts, cleans or pulls. You can go for maximum strength or for endurance.
Strength: 4x 3-4 reps of 10 second holds
Endurance: 3 x 60 seconds holds of thick implements.
The opposite of crushing and gripping is opening up the hand. Using small bands to work on finger extension is also a part of a massive-looking forearm. Using bands or a bucket full of sand can be a great add-on to your workout.
Agonist and Antagonist, Putting it All Together
Train them both in the same workout. Alternate them, superset them, isolate them, mix it all up. Here is a simple arm and forearm workout for your next arm session.
A1 – Incline db tricep close grip press 5 x 8 tempo 3110 rest 45 seconds A2 – Incline db hammer curl (neutral Fat grip) 5 x 8 3110 rest 90 seconds
Pause at the bottom/stretched position for both.
B1 – Tricep frenchpress low pulley with rope 4 x 12 tempo 2020 rest 10 seconds B2 – Rope pressdown high pulley 4 x 10 tempo 2020 rest 60 seconds B3 – Scott bench 45 degree incline ez bar pronated wide grip 4 x 12 tempo 2020 rest 10 seconds B4 – Standing barbell pronated fatgrip (or fat bar) curl 4 x 10 tempo 2020 rest 60 seconds
4 sets of B1 to B4. Arms and grip should be fried.
Grip Work
A1 – Pinch blocks 6 reps of 10 seconds no rest A2 – Barbell bent elbow wrist flexion 8-10 tempo 3020 rest 60 seconds
Repeat A1 and A2 for 3 sets
B1 – Barbell wrist extension bent elbow on bench 15 reps tempo 2010 no rest B2 – Thick bar holds for 60 seconds no rest B3 – Wrist flexion behind back for 10 reps rest 120 seconds.
