How do you train you arms?

[mfbanksy]

I myself train arms on two separate days. One day I hit only biceps (day after back day) and the other time I hit only triceps (Day after chest day). This works to an extent, as the muscles get individual attention and focus, and get really torn as Im spending 1 hour on on muscle, rather than splitting that time for two.
So I was wondering what you guys do? I know most people hit arms on the one day, and if so how do you go about this? Do you hit all biceps at the start and finish the second half with triceps, or do you superset and hit both one after the other?
Id love to know your answers and possibly try out some routines and try training "arms" twice a week, rather than separating the single muscles once a week.

Thanks in advance

[Mp859]

I hit bis with back and tris with chest. I also do arms on their own day as well.

[mfbanksy]

I hit bis with back and tris with chest. I also do arms on their own day as well.

How long are you at the gym for?

[Mp859]

How long are you at the gym for?

On the arm only day? Probably about hr and a half. I'll always end up doing a little calves and some cardio usually.

[mfbanksy]

On the arm only day? Probably about hr and a half. I'll always end up doing a little calves and some cardio usually.

Do you hit biceps and triceps together, or do biceps first and then triceps?

[hellomycognomen]

IMO your set up is not optimal. Back day automatically works biceps, so if you hit biceps the day after back your biceps have already been partially worked and are in a half state of recovery. Similarly with your chest then triceps set up. It would be better to reverse the set up IMO ie do triceps after back day and biceps after chest day. Or even better would be to have a full arm day by itself incorporated into your rotation. Hit biceps/triceps/forearms hard all in one day with or without shoulders depending on how you have your routine structured.

The goal here is to maximize muscle stimulation by hitting your muscles when they are at their freshest and fully recovered. Your arms are constantly working to a more or less degree depending on the exercise. If you keep hammering them and if you lose focus on the recovery aspect your gains will come however at a much much slower pace.

[hellomycognomen]

As far as time in the gym goes...... you can either train hard or train long, not both.

If don't want to spend hours at the gym, reduce your overall sets and exercises and instead increase the intensity of the working set.

You can stimulate the muscles, for example the biceps with one or two exercises. There is really no need to be performing all biceps variations within one workout. Less is more in many cases.

I like to do two exercises for biceps, two for triceps, and two for forearms. If you want more variety then next workout do the other ones.

[73rr]

I work out my biceps with back day. (Never beginning of work our alway the end) only takes 10 min at max.

I do triceps with chest day and the same method as I do with biceps.


Don't train them first because your bicep or triceps will fail before your back or chest has and them u won't be killing them like u want. Hope this helps.


Along time ago I did it the other way. Back and triceps. Chest and biceps. This worked well but affected the workout for my next day.

[NACH3]

IMO your set up is not optimal. Back day automatically works biceps, so if you hit biceps the day after back your biceps have already been partially worked and are in a half state of recovery. Similarly with your chest then triceps set up. It would be better to reverse the set up IMO ie do triceps after back day and biceps after chest day. Or even better would be to have a full arm day by itself incorporated into your rotation. Hit biceps/triceps/forearms hard all in one day with or without shoulders depending on how you have your routine structured.

The goal here is to maximize muscle stimulation by hitting your muscles when they are at their freshest and fully recovered. Your arms are constantly working to a more or less degree depending on the exercise. If you keep hammering them and if you lose focus on the recovery aspect your gains will come however at a much much slower pace.

I agree with this!!

Give your arms the respect they need... I always hit them hard and heavy.... but I've always dedicated a day for arms themselves(bis/& tris)...

I tried S/S'ing them and I've found that working my bis first(almost creates a cushion to spring up off of - thx to Kel for this) and work them each separately! I found when s/s'ing them I wasn't tearing the muscle down as hard as it should've been!

[TheTaxMan]

I dedicate a day to biceps (about an hour)
I dedicate a day to triceps (about an hour)

[krugerr]

I dedicate a day to biceps (about an hour) I dedicate a day to triceps (about an hour)

What?!

Those muscles are tiny. By that math your leg workout should be 6 hours, and your back 5 hours!

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[kelkel]

I dedicate a day to biceps (about an hour)
I dedicate a day to triceps (about an hour)

Brother you gotta cut down the volume, shorten rest periods and increase the intensity. I do bi's and tri's together and it takes no more than a half hr or so.

[krugerr]

Brother you gotta cut down the volume, shorten rest periods and increase the intensity. I do bi's and tri's together and it takes no more than a half hr or so.

I did HIT arms today in 25 mins.
Just thinking about an hour on biceps makes me cry.

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[kelkel]

Just thinking about an hour on biceps makes me cry.

Time to check your estrogen......

[krugerr]

Time to check your estrogen......

That would explain a few things!

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[TheTaxMan]

Im happy with the way i train my arms, they are a good size and i suffer with 5 day doms after training them.

I am going all out heavy and short rest time as of next week though, so doubt il last an hour, at the minute i do 10-12 reps with a good weight, about 45-60 secs reps inbetween sets, and about 6 different exercises.

As of next week i predict il only be doing 4 exercises and getting them smashed in 45 mins, its time i shock my body

[mfbanksy]

I train hard, dont get me wrong. A general session for me is about 1.5 hours and i go heavy, with perfect form, and my rest periods are short. HIT all the way. But when it comes to arms, id need to spend a good 2+ hours in the gym to hit both biceps and triceps. I find the individual muscles dont get the proper attention when i hit bis and tris in the same session. If i start with biceps by the end of the 45 minutes im too ****ed to put a good amount of effort into triceps, and vise versa.

And my reason for hitting biceps after back is firstly, your biceps although being a secondary really shouldnt be getting worked so hard that they need 2 days to recover, youre hitting back remember. My philosophy is that theyve been ripped a little bit the day before, so by hitting biceps the day after i shock the muscle and tear it entirely. The same goes for chest. I never walk away from a chest session with sore triceps. If anything id say my front delts are my secondary for chest, and triceps act as the third muscle in use

[mfbanksy]

Say if finished the first half of the workout which was biceps, would it be wise to take protein then, as they will be resting while triceps are being hit for the next 45 minutes?

[krugerr]

Say if finished the first half of the workout which was biceps, would it be wise to take protein then, as they will be resting while triceps are being hit for the next 45 minutes?

It would be wise to review your training routine. It doesn't take 45 mins to hit biceps. They're a small muscles. If you're able to attack them for 45 mins, you're not using enough intensity.

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[hellomycognomen]

I train hard, dont get me wrong. A general session for me is about 1.5 hours and i go heavy, with perfect form, and my rest periods are short. HIT all the way. But when it comes to arms, id need to spend a good 2+ hours in the gym to hit both biceps and triceps. I find the individual muscles dont get the proper attention when i hit bis and tris in the same session. If i start with biceps by the end of the 45 minutes im too ****ed to put a good amount of effort into triceps, and vise versa.

And my reason for hitting biceps after back is firstly, your biceps although being a secondary really shouldnt be getting worked so hard that they need 2 days to recover, youre hitting back remember. My philosophy is that theyve been ripped a little bit the day before, so by hitting biceps the day after i shock the muscle and tear it entirely. The same goes for chest. I never walk away from a chest session with sore triceps. If anything id say my front delts are my secondary for chest, and triceps act as the third muscle in use

Muscle soreness has nothing to do with how well the session was. The goal IMO is to stimulate the muscle growth mechanism either through volume or intensity, then get the hell out of the gym and rest, recover, and give the muscles a chance to grow.

If you have already performed several exercises to failure, whats the point of going for more and more? That's is why I said keep exercises to a minimum, less is more. There is no need to do DB curls, then barbell curls, then concentration curls, then hammer curls, then machine rope curls, then reverse curls, the supination curls, etc......

It can become ridiculous, pick a few exercises and next week change them up if variety is what you like.

Same applies to triceps.

[TheTaxMan]

One thing i dont get is everyone claims you have to do arms intense in 45 mins for growth

Why do mine grow when i spend a long time on them?

One thing i also dont get is, from diet to supplementd to steroid doses to steroid compounds to AI doses

What works for one may not work for another, so why do people claim we all need to train the same way for growth? I disagree.

If your finding the way your training works for you, keep at it

[mfbanksy]

I used to spend an hour plus on triceps alone and got them massive. then because i was happy with the progress i neglected them and now doing the same intense training on them no longer gets results. although in the bicep department they have always been my weakest (not strength wise, but size wise) muscle. Im always finding that I only really feel a pump and the exercises working in the first 2/3 exercises. After that no matter if i go light or heavy and focus absolute contraction on muscle, it just doesnt do anything. its like the muscle has adapted to being pressured and no longer rips from the routine. same goes for triceps. and id love to say that, that should mean the session is done and the muscle is worked, because its not, as they dont grow.

[NACH3]

I used to spend an hour plus on triceps alone and got them massive. then because i was happy with the progress i neglected them and now doing the same intense training on them no longer gets results. although in the bicep department they have always been my weakest (not strength wise, but size wise) muscle. Im always finding that I only really feel a pump and the exercises working in the first 2/3 exercises. After that no matter if i go light or heavy and focus absolute contraction on muscle, it just doesnt do anything. its like the muscle has adapted to being pressured and no longer rips from the routine. same goes for triceps. and id love to say that, that should mean the session is done and the muscle is worked, because its not, as they dont grow.

Are you truly tearing the muscle down(I mean to where there's nothing left in the tank) and then more importantly is are your resting and giving that/those muscles the time they need to recover?? We don't grow in the gym but rather outside when we rest recover and sleep!

Id look into your routine moreso!

[kelkel]

One thing i dont get is everyone claims you have to do arms intense in 45 mins for growth

Why do mine grow when i spend a long time on them?

You are correct. You should do what works for you. Just don't be afraid to experiment with another style as you may see some renewed growth as well. Remember, it's never been how much time you spend on a muscle, it's the intensity of effort. However you make that work is all that matters!

[Ashop]

I train my biceps right after my back (BACK,BICEPS,FOREARMS)
I train my triceps after shoulders (CHEST,SHOULDERS, TRICEPS)
If something needs more attention I will add a day where I focus on that bodypart but still keep it in my normal routine as well.

[marcus300]

Sometimes guys think pump is growth especially for arms,

haven't got time to post a detailed response but fuk me guys think about how growth is produced and then loo at the size of your bi's and tri's/

[novastepp]

1 set. Personally, after a back workout, I can destroy my biceps in one set. Its painful but I'll share it with you here. I suppose you could use this when your biceps are fresh too, but you have to find the correct weight:

Single arm DB preacher curls:
*first, warmups with light weight for 6-8 reps, use "feeler sets" to find the appropriate weight (if you can performed 6 reps "easily" its too light for a working set)*

Working set is positive failure on ~3rd-4th rep.
Have a spotter help you perform 2-3 assisted reps.
Then have the spotter help you perform 2 resisted negatives (where they pull the DB downward and you resist them for as long as possible, throughout the entire negative ROM).
Then perform 2 slow regular negatives.

I haven't found a better bicep destroyer yet. Truly Brutal.

[cgeorgemeow]

1 set. Personally, after a back workout, I can destroy my biceps in one set. Its painful but I'll share it with you here. I suppose you could use this when your biceps are fresh too, but you have to find the correct weight:

Single arm DB preacher curls:
*first, warmups with light weight for 6-8 reps, use "feeler sets" to find the appropriate weight (if you can performed 6 reps "easily" its too light for a working set)*

Working set is positive failure on ~3rd-4th rep.
Have a spotter help you perform 2-3 assisted reps.
Then have the spotter help you perform 2 resisted negatives (where they pull the DB downward and you resist them for as long as possible, throughout the entire negative ROM).
Then perform 2 slow regular negatives.

I haven't found a better bicep destroyer yet. Truly Brutal.

Agree with this 100 percent

[MSphysique]

I hit my biceps on back day and triceps on chest. Worked well for me over 5 years.

[bass]

I dedicate a day to biceps (about an hour)
I dedicate a day to triceps (about an hour)

try biceps/triceps supper-sets. it took me less than 15 minutes and got better results than dedicating a day for each muscle. Arnold did that. great pump.

[MSphysique]

I hit my biceps with back and triceps with chest.

I don't know if it's good hitting biceps the day after back/trcieps after chest, because they will already be fatigued from the previous day. You thought about adding them into the same day?

[gettinbig30]

I was looking for a way to shock my arms because I was looking for the horseshoe in the tricep to pop out more in the back and also get some height to my bicep, I watched a video on YouTube of Mike O'hearn and he says in arms day he does 20 reps. So I dropped the weight a tiny bit and do 20 reps now, only on arm day though. Getting some results I was looking for. I also use fat gripz for my curls, definitely as added some width.

[oldnsedentary]

I used to spend an hour plus on triceps alone and got them massive.

Pics of massive tris, please.

[Logical1]

I don't have an "arm day" but I incorporate arms into larger group sets.
When I do rows, and Lat pulls I add arm curls for biceps.

Another is I do incline dumbbell bench press or barbell bench press I again add tricep pull downs at the end for a set of final pumps.
This has been working well for me and with proper diet I've seen some gentle growth, not having cycled in 14 years.

[flip888]

I do bis on back day and tris on chest day like a lot of you guys, the most important thing I've found that's helps me is, I don't lift as heavy but I use perfect form and focus on muscle contraction. And I use slow reps.

Doing it this way is what I found works best

[MusclePupNick]

Haha I've just done tris with chest and bis with back but after reading these posts I think I'm going to mix it up and just have a pure arms day Thanks for all of the advice, guys!!!

[InternalFire]

I dont train my arms at all, my arms train me!

[Cole40]

Generally I train my arms through threshold training a few different movements in a cycle. 12 push press + 8-10 shrug curls + 12 supine grip dumbell press And cycle that for 4 rounds.

Then move to something that will secondarily engage the arms like a heavy deadlift and hold at the top.

Then if I've got enough energy pyramid stack a chest press machine from 4-6 reps increasing to 18-20 reps

Then the next only execute pulling mechanics on the arms.

High pulls , sand bag pulls, etc

[bass]

^^^^^???????^^^^^^ and how these exercises train your biceps?

[Cole40]

Keep the elbows tight on each concentrates more of the effort to the bicep without the joint pressure of a traditional curl. And a supine grip deadlift helps create a static contraction on the bicep