4 Weeks to Big Arms _ T Nation

30/12/2015 4 Weeks to Big Arms | T Nation

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4 Weeks to Big Arms (/workouts/4-weeks-to-big-arms)by Dan Trink (/allarticles/authors/dantrink) | 10/19/12

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Tags: Arms (/all-articles/tags/arm-training), Bodybuilding (/all-

articles/tags/bodybuilding)

Let's drop the, "I just want to be strong and functional" bullshit, shall we?

You want big arms. A pair of huge, veiny, triumphant mo-fos hanging from

your shoulder sockets like thick slabs of well-aged beef. You want arms so big

that when you go into a tattoo parlor they charge you for extra ink. Arms so

impressive that you'll wear a tank top to your sister's wedding.

But you also want to avoid being a douche bag. You don't want to be that guy

who starts every workout with concentration curls. You understand that

squats and deadlifts are the foundation of a good program. You appreciate

being able to military press your body weight for reps.

Yet, still, you want big arms.

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Fortunately, you're in luck, my soon-to-be sleeve-stretching friend. What

follows is a specialization program that will give you what you want (in case

you forgot, that's big arms) while still using the big lifts you know you need.

And if that weren't enough to get your arm-hairs standing on end in

excitement (provided you haven't already shaved off all your arm hair to make

your forearms look bigger), the compound movements we're going to use will

enhance your goal of building bigger, stronger arms.

In other words, we're not doing big lifts just because we know they're

awesome and important – we're doing the one's that are going to help us

reach our goal.

Don't Allow A Small Brain To Keep You From Getting Big Arms



Here's where most people fail miserably when it comes to 'specialty' training:

If you want big arms (or a 500-pound deadlift or a 38-inch vertical jump), the

optimal method is to focus on just that one goal for a certain period of time (or

at all times, depending on the goal/situation).

Therefore, in this program we're going to focus all our efforts for the next 4

weeks on arm hypertrophy. Don't make the classic mistake of trying to

maintain volume on your other lifts at the same time. You want all your

resources (training, nutrition, recovery) to go towards the endgame of gaining

arm size.

Look at it this way, if you wanted to be a professional football player, you

wouldn't spend half your time shooting free throws. Remember, "Plan B" is for

those people who don't have faith in "Plan A."

That said, we're still going to spend one of our 4 training days maintaining

strength and movement qualities in other key lifts. This is wise because:

It will give your arms extra time for recovery while still providing an anabolic stimulus.

You'll need to return to a more generalized training program after this phase is complete, and

you don't want to lose your ability to perform key major lifts.

I said so, and my arms are bigger than yours.

However, if you're a newbie – less than a year of solid training under your belt

– you're probably not ready for a specialized program of any sort, let alone one

geared towards the arms. Stick with gaining strength and technique in the big

lifts. You can always bookmark this article and come back to it.

Someone Call a Vet, 'Cause These Pythons Are Sick

Enough with the lectures, let's get to the good stuff.



You'll train four days per week. Three of those will be your "arm workout" days

with the fourth being a maintenance day.

Ideally your week will be set up with Monday, Thursday, and Saturday being

the arm days, Tuesday as your maintenance day, and Wednesday, Friday, and

Sunday as off days. Of course, you can always move things around to suit your

needs but try not to schedule arm workouts on back-to-back days.

Each arm workout starts with a big lift. This will make you feel (and look) less

douchey and sets the stage for a significant anabolic hormonal response,

something you wouldn't get from isolation work alone.

For workout A, that's a deadlift. Heavy deads contribute to great forearm

development as well as, if not better than, any other lift you can perform in the

gym.

Workout B starts with a narrow grip bench press – a great developer of the

triceps. Notice I said "narrow grip" not "close grip." I define narrow grip as

"hands directly above the shoulders," as this allows you to focus on the

triceps without developing the wrist pain often associated with close-grip

benching.

Also, be sure to keep your elbows tucked close to your ribcage as you lower

the bar. This ensures that you get more triceps recruitment and keeps your

shoulder in a safer position.

Finally, workout C starts with chin-ups (that means a supinated grip, or palms

facing you), as they're also a great forearm and biceps developer. If you can't

complete the number of reps prescribed for the chin-ups, take a long, hard

look at yourself in the mirror and question your manhood, and then walk over

to the lat pulldown machine and get your reps in there.



The periodization scheme is undulating, meaning we're going to be

manipulating the sets and reps from week to week. Shoot to complete all reps

in every set, and choose loads that allow you to have one or two more reps left

in the tank at the end of the set. Maxing out is great for strength training, but

when building mass I find it's better to hold a little bit in reserve.

Finally, we're going to use a few specialized techniques that work really well in

hypertrophy phases such as drop sets, slow negatives, and rest-pauses.

These will be used on the last set of the "A," "B1," and "B2" exercises when

prescribed.

Week 1

Workout A

Exercise Sets Reps

A Deadlift * 4 810

B1 Dips (weighted if needed) * 3 810

B2 EZBar Preacher Curl * 3 810

C1 Decline DB Triceps Extension 3 810

C2 Incline DB Curl 3 810

Sit on an incline bench with the back of the bench raised between 60 and 75 degrees. Grab a

pair of dumbbells and let your arms hang straight down. Curl up the weight as high as you

can without letting your elbows come forward.

D Cable Rope Pressdown 1 25

* Drop Set – After you complete the last rep of the last set, rest for 15

seconds, reduce the load by 30-50%, and try to match the amount of reps

with the new weight. So if you performed 10 reps with 185 pounds on the

last set of narrow-grip bench presses, drop the weight to 125 pounds and

try to get 10 reps.



Workout B

Exercise Sets Reps

A NarrowGrip Flat Barbell Bench Press * 4 810

B1 BentOver Barbell Row * 3 810

B2 BandResisted Push Up * 3 810

Wrap a resistance band around your back and hold one end in each hand. Lie on the ground

and perform a set of pushups. You should feel an overload in your triceps at the top of the

movement.

C1 Barbell Perfect Curl 3 810

This is stolen directly from the late Vince Gironda. Think of this as the opposite of a cheat

curl – instead of rocking back, you rock forward. Stand with a barbell as if you were about to

curl it. Now before you curl, lean your upper body back 5 to 10 degrees (a slight lean back).

As you curl the weight up, lean your body into the bar (so you have a 5 to 10 degree lean

forward at the end). Leave your ego at the front desk on this one as you'll have to reduce the

weight you'd normally use.

C2 Kneeling Cable Overhead Triceps Extension 3 810

D Standing DB Hammer Curl 1 25





try to get 10 reps.

Workout C

Exercise Sets Reps

A Chin Up (weighted if needed) * 4 810

B1 Barbell Floor Press * 3 810

B2 Seated DHandle Cable Curl * 3 810

Drag a flat bench over to a double cable station. Sit on the edge of the bench with the cable



stacks directly behind you. Grab a Dhandle in each hand, stay tall in the saddle, and curl.

C1 Standing Zottman Curl 3 810

Grab a set of dumbbells, stand tall, and perform a curl with the palms facing up. Once the

dumbbell reaches your shoulder turn your hands over (palms facing the floor) and lower.

Once you get to the bottom, turn your hands back over (palms up) and repeat for reps.

C2 EZBar French Press 3 810

D Cable Straight Bar Reverse Curl 1 25





try to get 10 reps.

Workout D

Exercise Sets Reps

A Barbell Back Squat * 4 810

B1 Seated Overhead Press * 3 810

B2 DB Romanian Deadlift * 3 810

C1 Walking Lunge 3 810

C2 SingleArm DB Row 3 810

D Reverse Crunch/Hanging Leg Raise 1 25





try to get 10 reps.



Week 2

Workout A

Exercise Sets Reps

A Deadlift * 5 68






* Slow Negative – On the last rep of the last set, perform the eccentric

(negative) phase of the lift as slowly as possible. Fifteen seconds is a good

time to shoot for. On some of the lifts (such as the Narrow-Grip Bench



Press) you'll need a spotter. A word of caution on the deadlift: slow

negatives can be risky here if your form breaks down. Proceed with

caution.

Workout B

Exercise Sets Reps












caution.

Workout C

Exercise Sets Reps














caution.

Workout D

Exercise Sets Reps












caution.



Week 3

Workout A

Exercise Sets Reps

A Deadlift * 4 1012






* Rest-Pause – After the last rep of your last set, rest for 10-15 seconds

and then attempt 2-3 more reps. Rest another 10-15 seconds and try to

bang out another 1-2 reps.

Workout B



Exercise Sets Reps










Workout C

Exercise Sets Reps










Workout D

Exercise Sets Reps












Week 4

Workout A

Exercise Sets Reps

A Deadlift 2 15

B1 Dips (weighted if needed) 2 15

B2 EZBar Preacher Curl 2 15






Workout B

Exercise Sets Reps

A NarrowGrip Flat Barbell Bench Press 2 15

B1 BentOver Barbell Row 2 15

B2 BandResisted Push Up 2 15




Workout C

Exercise Sets Reps

A Chin Up (weighted if needed) 2 15

B1 Barbell Floor Press 2 15

B2 Seated DHandle Cable Curl 2 15




Workout D

Exercise Sets Reps

A Barbell Back Squat 2 15

B1 Seated Overhead Press 2 15

B2 DB Romanian Deadlift 2 15






A Note On Rest and Tempo

While I'm not prescribing specific rest or tempo on this program, you'd be well

advised to perform each lift as quickly as possible while absolutely controlling

the negative/lowering phase of each lift.

Time under tension is a critical factor in any hypertrophy phase, and ideally

you want sets lasting between 40 and 60 seconds.

Rest periods should be between 75 and 90 seconds for your "A" exercises and

between 45 and 75 seconds for the remainder of the program. Once you feel

like you're ready to go, get rolling with the next set.

On the high rep "D" exercises, use intra-set rest as much as necessary. Your

goal is to, somehow, someway, get all the reps in.

Get After It

All right, noodle arms, it's time to get to work. Remember, the goal for the next

4 weeks is to get your pipes as massive as possible while incorporating some

big lifts to keep your man-status in check.

As for your legs, don't worry; you're doing just enough work to keep them from

going anywhere. And after the gun show's finished its 4-week run, I may just

have a specialization program for you to add some prime real estate to your

lower body.

Now get after it!

10/19/12



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4 Weeks to Big Arms _ T Nation

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