Guys – it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a chest so big that people accuse you of wearing a Wonderbra… and it doesn’t matter if your back is so wide it takes an ant 3 days to walk from one side to the other…those things don’t matter, unless you’ve got a great pair of arms as well.

Big biceps and triceps are synonymous with muscles in general. Even toddlers, if asked to show their “muscles”, will instantly contort into a crude facsimile of a front double bicep pose. No other bodypart has the opportunity to be displayed to such an extent. Even in the cooler months, you can still wear a short sleave shirt or a tight skivvy to sho off your big guns (arms). Ask any woman – big arms are downright manly…. This month we bring to you a time efficient arm workout consisting of just four exercise that will completely devastate the biceps and triceps, spurring on new growth. If you need a shot in the arm, this routine is for you!

Big weights build big muscles. You’ve probably heard this echoed a thousand times over the years, but have you ever really stopped to think about it? Exercises that work the muscles with the heaviest amount of resistance build the most mass. Two of the very best overall exercises for adding muscle to the body are squats and deadlifts. The fact that you can potential handle anywhere from three to six hundred pounds or more on each is really why they are so effective. This same logic applies to the arms. The best exercises for stimulating new muscle tissue synthesis are those that allow for the heaviest weights to be used. For triceps, its tough to bead overhead dumbbell extensions. Close grip bench presses and weighted dips are also very good, but many trainers end up working primarily chest and shoulders on them rather than triceps – but not so with single dumbbell overhead extensions. It’s a much stricter movement that demands hard work from the triceps to move the weight.

1. Overhead single dumbbell extension

It’s best performed on a seated bench with back support.

Next, keep the elbows as close in to the head as possible and lower the dumbbell until the bottom set of plates disappears from view and you feel a full stretch in the triceps.

Without pausing, drive it back up until your elbows lock and fully contract.

Three sets of 8-12 reps are all it takes to do the damage.

TIP – A spotter is great as you won’t get stuck at the bottom of the movement if you go extra heavy. If you’ve no spotter, don’t let this discourage you, just chose a moderately heavy weight. This exercise is pure dynamite for building up thick, meaty triceps.

2. Rope cable pushdowns

Another very basic exercise for the triceps are pushdowns. Rope pushdowns offer a distinct advantage over solid metal bars. A rope allows you to spread your hands apart as you complete the repetition, offering an increased range of motion. This is the extra range – the triceps travelling behind the waist that kickbacks offer. So, when you do pushdowns with a rope, you’re really getting two exercises in one.

Begin the movement just as with a bar, meaning that your elbows are pinned tightly to your sides and your forearms are just above parallel to the ground.

Push down and simultaneously outward, so that your thumbs end up facing the floor at the bottom of the movement.

At this point your hands should be flared out an inch or two on each side of your hips.

Three sets of 8-12 reps will pump those triceps up.

TIP – Don’t try to use as much weight on these as you would with the metal bar. If you do, you wont’ be able to get that critical spread of the hands.

3. Bicep Barbell Curl

It doesn’t get any more basic than the barbell curl performed with a straight bar, and this is easily the top power move for the biceps. Literally millions of big biceps have been forged in the fires of the barbell curl over the past fifty years. The main function of the biceps is arm flexion, meaning to bring the hand up toward the shoulder. Barbell curls satisfy this fundamental need perfectly. As simple as the exercise seems, however, it is not uncommon to see horrible form that takes much of the potential benefits away. You will see (or may have even been guilty of yourself) trainers kicking the weight up with jarring thrusts of the hips and lower back, bars bounced out of the top and bottom positions, as well as elbows drifting forward from the body at the top of the repetition. These methods will allow you to use more weight, but they will do very little in the way of developing your biceps. Here is the correct way to do the barbell curl.

Start with your feet planted solidly at shoulder width, and take a secure grip on the bar. A shoulder width grip will distribute the weight evenly across the biceps, whereas a narrow grip will work more of the outer biceps head and the brachialis. In turn, a wide grip will selectively target the inner bicep head.

Next, pin the elbows tightly to your sides, as if they were actually fused to the flesh there.

Beginning from the dead hang (although you must always keep tension on the biceps – never relax a muscle when it is up against resistance) curl up to a point where the biceps are totally contracted and forcefully squeeze them for dear life. Note that this point happens before your hands reach your chest.

After your good squeeze, lower the bar very slowly un der control, feeling the biceps stretch every inch of the way.

Three or four sets of 8-12 reps on barbell curls will get your bis pumped up and warm for the last exercise in our arm routine.

4. Alternate dumbbell hammer curls

One reason many trainers are frustrated with their biceps development is that they are actually underdeveloped in the outer head and brachialis and don’t even know it. A steady diet of straight bar curls often leads to greater development of the inner head of the muscle, the one people see when you raise up your arm and flex for them. If total development is what you seek, you must do some direct work for the outer biceps head and the lateral head of the triceps. Reverse curls are one good exercise, but the very best way to hit this area is with hammer grip dumbbell curls. They are called hammer curls because you hold the dumbbell as you would a hammer, with your thumbs facing the ceiling.

Select a slightly lighter pair of dumbbells than you would use for regular alternate dumbbell curls.

The exercise is performed nearly identically to alternate curls, only you must strive to keep your hands moving up as close to your torso as possible.

Finish off your arm session with three or four sets of 8-12 reps for each arm.

Big Arm Training Tips

Give arms time to recover and repair

Although the arms recuperate quite rapidly from direct work, usually within 48 hours, it’s critical that they are not trained at all in at least the first 24 hours after training them. Thus, if you blasted biceps on Monday, it would be a bad idea to train back on Tuesday. Rowing, chinning and dead-lifting all take a heavy toll on the biceps. You must always be aware of the biceps role n back training and the triceps role in pressing for the chest and shoulders. Carefully structure your training so that your arms always receive adequate time to repair from the trauma of severe workouts.

Feel is everything

It’s been said a million times, yet it can never be said enough. Feeling a muscle work while you train it is the single most important determining factor in whether or not you will experience growth. If you aren’t feeling it in your biceps, they won’t be growing any time soon. Put your ego aside and only use weights that you can completely control in perfect form. Always think of squeezing the muscle forcefully,. Flexing it hard at the point of contraction at the top of the rep. Do that, and the results will follow.

Get it right

Be sure you are training correctly. If you are unsure, book in a session with a personal trainer to take you through these and other big arm exercises. Correct technique will ensure you get maximum results. Personal training is available to all members. Just ask at reception for more details.

Push yourself

A personal trainer will also make sure you are lifting the heaviest weights you can handle whilst still performing the exercise correctly. A trainer can help you with forced reps for extra growth.

Be patient

Stop worrying when a new routine doesn’t pack two inches onto your guns in two weeks. Be satisfied with any gains you make to your arms, because this means that they are now bigger than they have ever been before. This should serve as motivation to continue your progress. Remember seemingly tine gains all add up over several years to solid inches and very decent arms.

Don’t compare yourself to genetic freaks

The pro bodybuilders and top national level bodybuilders are definitely a great source of motivation. But remember, they have been training for many, many years – some of these guys are just genetic freaks. Some were muscular before they even lifted a weight. Your arms don’t need to measure 23 inches to be impressive. A shapely, well defined arm of sixteen to eighteen inches, depending on your frame, is something to be extremely proud of. The only fair person to compare your accomplishments to is yourself. Make it your goal to have bigger, better arms than you did before, and you’ll always be setting yourself up for the big prize.

If you need a serious boost in your arm size, give these four quickies a shot. You could soon find yourself stretching out your shirt sleeves with some blasted out bis and tris!!!