There is no doubt that big arms are coveted by every male. Guys love em, and girls love to grab em. A set of 24 inch pythons were the mark of the American Hero, Hulk Hogan! The hulkster put fear into those by intimidating them with his 24 inch guns. Well, it’s time to get ready for the gun show. “Get your tickets! Tickets here! The gun show is about to begin!”

The road to massive guns begins with proper training. There are several key factors (beyond genetics) that must be understood prior to working towards increasing the size of your arms. People have chosen poor routines with big hopes to increase arm size. Unfortunately, it has led to many t-shirt’s being bought one size too big. All in hopes to still blow out those sleeves on the way to the club. You took the wrong path “brah”, but we are here to help!

Step-by-step plan for big guns

1. Train hard WITH proper form.

This could have easily been two steps, but they must go together when training arms. Why? Have you seen how people train their arms these days? The weight is far too heavy. Form is horrid. Most look like they are doing a hip thrust combined with an arm swing. It’s awful and needs to be corrected. When training your biceps, keep your elbows tucked at your sides. Allow the weight to come all the way down without bending your upper body. Squeeze as hard as you can as you lift the weight to get a full muscle contraction. Lower the weight slowly and under control.

2. Use the proper weight.

This step can be accomplished by following step one. However, we need to make sure this is completely understood. Cheat reps are cheat reps. People can sell you all sorts of tips on how and when cheating is ok. The purpose here is knowledge, and not to sell you tips that don’t work (i.e. cheating is NOT ok). Use the proper weight to achieve the given rep range. If it says 6-8 reps, then choose a weight that you can complete for 6-8 reps. Do not do 6 solid reps and 1-2 cheat reps to try and get another few reps out of your arms. This invites injury and will leave you with smaller arms after being put on IR for several weeks.

3. Choose exercises that work FOR YOU

A workout program is merely a design. If the design works for you, then continue doing it. However, if the design doesn’t work, or there are some things that don’t work for you, change it. Not all exercises work for everyBODY. Some people have long forearms, which can make bicep curls much harder. Longer forearms means there is more torque directed towards your biceps (and elbow). Torque is the reason people can loosen stuck bolts by adding a long bar to the end of a wrench.

4. Do NOT overtrain.

Biceps and triceps are the most overtrained muscles in the body. People will have triceps (or biceps) with chest on one day, biceps (or triceps) with back on another day. Then, later in the week, they will have yet another day dedicated to biceps and triceps. The biceps and triceps are the smaller muscle groups of the body when compared to all other muscles (i.e. quads, lats, hams, pecs, etc.). Train them once per week, and if you need to work them alone, dedicate a day for arms. So, no triceps after chest, simply do your arm workout on its’ own day.

Massive Arms Workout

Barbell Curls
3 Sets
6-8 Reps

Flat Close-Grip Bench Press
3 Sets
6-8 Reps

Reverse Ez-Bar Curls
2 Sets
6-8 Reps

Weighted Dips
2 Sets
6-8 Reps

Dumbbell Hammer Curls
2 Sets+1 Drop Set
6-8 Reps

Cable Triceps Pushdowns
2 Sets+1 Drop Set
6-8 Reps

Drop Set: This will be performed immediately after your second set. Pick a weight that is 25% less than the weight you used for the first 2 sets. Complete the exercise for as many reps as possible with this new weight. Only do one drop set per exercise listed.

*This is simply a design. It works very well for people, however some exercises may not work for you. If that’s the case, change them to what does work for you.

Arm workouts require extreme focus. They do not require any fancy movements, just pure focus. Do not get caught up in trying to over-isolate an area to target it specifically. Use proper form, full range of motion, and squeeze on EVERY rep. It is also wise to eat a surplus of healthy calories to facilitate muscle growth. The body cannot grow without extra fuel to aid in that growth. It may be a bad idea to ask for this, but show off those guns on our Facebook page after completing this workout. Link your photos up here; Athletic Xtreme Facebook Page.