Yeah, yeah, another I want to bring up my arms thread. Sue me.
I’m actually going to begin a sorely needed cut in April and want to maximize my last 2 months in calorie surplus mode focused on the bp I know disappears the fastest for me during a cut.
So what does the nation think is the best setup?
A. 2(3) days dedicated ARM days [low/moderate volume], 1(2) days “maintenance days”
or
B. Keep current routine, add sets of Bis/Tris 1(2) extra days a week on a day like legs. Nothing craxy…Like 3-4 sets of 10-15, something joint freindly.
or
C. A push/pull/legs/arms split. Remove sets of chest for more direct tris, remove sets of back for more biceps
or
D. Other
Do a push/pull routine like C. but make your exercises choices close-grip presses (incline,decline,whatever), floor presses and dips for chest and supinated weighted chins, supinated barbell rows, snatch grip deadlifts. And add direct arm work at the end of the workout.
I use this as my basic template:
1: Chest
2: Back
3: Legs
4: Delts+Arms
I do extra delt + tricep work on my chest day, you could also add bicep work to back day.
If I had to pick one of your options it would be #3, except maintain chest volume and do a few light, higher rep triceps extention variations to get a big pump going and bust out something like weighted bench dips or wide, reverse grip smith bench for a few sets of 8-15 reps after you have that pump from the light lifts.
[quote]zephead4747 wrote:
I use this as my basic template:
1: Chest
2: Back
3: Legs
4: Delts+Arms
I do extra delt + tricep work on my chest day, you could also add bicep work to back day.
If I had to pick one of your options it would be #3, except maintain chest volume and do a few light, higher rep triceps extention variations to get a big pump going and bust out something like weighted bench dips or wide, reverse grip smith bench for a few sets of 8-15 reps after you have that pump from the light lifts.[/quote]
This seems sensible.
I use the same split but I do a moderately heavy, lower volume triceps exercise (e.g. skullcrushers) right after finishing chest, and finish off with a lighter, higher rep exercise for the pump (e.g. one-arm cable pushdown). Have gotten really good results off this.
Try the Chin up challenge article. In just over a month, I added 1/2" to my arms. If you did something similar with dips, I bet you could get even more growth in a 2 month period. And the good thing is you can keep your normal routine, it’s basically just an add-on.
Check out the responses in the article discussion.
[quote]Brett620 wrote:
Try the Chin up challenge article. In just over a month, I added 1/2" to my arms. If you did something similar with dips, I bet you could get even more growth in a 2 month period. And the good thing is you can keep your normal routine, it’s basically just an add-on.
Check out the responses in the article discussion.[/quote]
I second this one. I started this in early January, and saw about 1/2" to mine as well.
I spent a few years doing the “tris on chest day, bis on back day” etc routine with very little to show for it; I’ve had a very good experience with just including one (lately been two) day(s) per week doing just arms. At least for me, in retrospect I always found it hard to really devote the energy to the arm muscle after working the larger one that day, whether chest or back.