Some New Arm Workouts for New Gains
Eric Bach
Challenged Supersets to Strengthen Biceps & Triceps
Your triceps or biceps may become stubborn after years spent hard training. You can spark new growth with four smart supersets.
It’s time for new challenges if your arms have not grown since Obama’s first term. How can you shock your triceps and biceps into growing? Supersets – new ones you probably haven’t tried before.
So let’s do it. To bring on the heat, we’ll be using two types of supersets:
- Antagonist Supersets Combining exercises with opposing movement patterns. You can think of it as a push-pull. “front and back” superset. Pair triceps extensions with biceps curls.
- Agonist and Compound Supersets For insane metabolic stress, you can hit the same muscle with multiple exercises. There isn’t enough rest for the muscle to flush lactate. This causes anabolic growth factors to be released. You can stimulate more muscle growth by fatiguing additional muscle fibers. Example: Triceps pushdown using dumbbell bench presse.
1. 15-Degree Inclinedumbbell Bench Press + Inline Skull Crusher
The 15-degree incline benches press is a great way to build chest, shoulder and triceps. At 15 degrees, you’ll be able to use a heavy enough weight to challenge type-2 muscle fibers – those needed for high-intensity contractions. To increase muscle-building stress, do the higher-rep incline crusher after.
Skull crushers have a slight incline that allows for more motion. It’s also easier on the joints than a flat bench. An EZ-bar or dumbbells can be used.
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | |
---|---|---|---|---|
A1. | Bench Press 15-Degree Inline Dumbbell Bench Press | 3 | 8-10 | 30 sec. |
A2. | 15-Degree Incline Skull Crusher | 3 | 12-15 | 1 min. |
2. Rotating Grip Chin Up + Incline Curl
This superset will challenge you to develop the long head of your biceps. Rotating attachments Angles90 handles They are great for chin-ups but also work well with standard rings.
You can grip the rings or handles harder, but they also allow you to move your elbows and wrists freely. Do heavy sets of 5-8 reps. Lower your speed by taking a few seconds. You can add weight if necessary. This exercise will increase muscle fiber recruit, which will help you fatigue more muscles fibers with the second exercise.
The long head is also broken by the incline dumbbell curl. If your arms are extended behind your body, you can curl your biceps to maximum activation.
Try to use a difficult weight for the ring-chin-ups. Be more conservative with the incline curl. You want maximal contraction each rep.
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | |
---|---|---|---|---|
A1. | Rotating Grip Chin Up | 4 | 5-6 | 1 min. |
A2. | Incline Dumbbell Curl | 4 | 8-10 | 1 min. |
3. Single-Arm Overhead Extension + Concentration Curl
This superset of agonists will assist you in enhancing the mind-muscle connection, and maximizing metabolic stress.
Single-arm overhead extensions are a great way to strengthen your triceps. This will allow you to focus and have more range of motion than if you were using two arms.
Holding one dumbbell in each hand, stand with one dumbbell behind your head. To initiate the movement, flex your triceps and extend your arm straight above your head while holding one dumbbell in your hand behind your head. To maximize your stretch through your triceps, take 3-4 seconds each time you lower the weight. Pause at the top of each repetition and flex your arms.
The concentration curl addresses muscular imbalances between the left and right side while improving the mind-muscle connection. Keep your elbow pinned to the inside of your thigh.
Slowly curl the weight towards your shoulder. Hold briefly at the top, then slowly lower the weight back to the start, allowing full extension of the elbow joint. Don’t try to explode up from the fully stretched position. Focus and slowly contract.
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | |
---|---|---|---|---|
A1. | Single-Arm Overhead Extension | 3 | 10-12 | 45 sec. |
A2. | Concentration Curl | 3 | 10 | 45 sec. |
4. Pinwheel Curl + 60-Second Farmers Walk
This superset will crush your forearms. Forearms grow better with frequent, high-volume training.
The neutral-grip hand position of the pinwheel curl will hammer the brachialis, which sits underneath the bicep, adds thickness to the arm, and pushes the bicep up, making it appear bigger.
The pinwheel curl differs from a hammer curl because it allows a slight “cheat” to get the weight up on the concentric. To maximize the exercise, focus on lowering under control.
The farmer’s walk smashes your traps, core, and muscular grip endurance. Use dumbbells or grab 45-pound plates (with handles) and do a 60-second farmers walk.
Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest | |
---|---|---|---|---|
A1. | Pinwheel Curl | 3 | 10/arm | 45 sec. |
A2. | Farmers Walk | 3 | 1 min. | 90 sec. |
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