I’ve been wondering if a separate day on arms is the most effective way to build muscle? Ive felt better results so far on a separate day however I don’t know if I should alternate sets between my bis and tris and keep on going or if I should do all of my bi work then move to tris on a particular day. I always try to add compound exercises to my workout as well i.e.: standing press or chin-ups for a better workout on this day. Thanks for your help.
Here’s how an arm day should be approached, IMO, unless one finds this doesn’t work for them, etc.
Triceps ALWAYS before biceps
Triceps should consider,
- “Big movements” first - Dips, close-grip presses, heavy work. Lower reps here.
- Making sure all heads of the triceps are sufficiently hit
- Using lighter/isolation exercises typically for higher reps towards the END of that muscle group. I.E. Close Grip Benching → Skullcrushers/Overhead Extensions → Pushdowns → Kickbacks
Biceps always second. I like to use these principles:
- At least a few “heavy” sets taken to failure. Likely no more than 1-3 sets of <8 reps
- I whore out preacher movements for most work. Helps to negate body english from sets.
- Actually hitting brachioradialis / forearm-intense movements first. (Includes rope curls, reverse curls, hammers, pinwheels.)
- Hitting “ball” of forearm work last
- Typically still structuring bicep workouts in a descending manner like triceps, such as…
Hammer Curls → Heavy Barbell Curls → EZ Bar Preacher Curls → K pipe curls
And, most notably, I definitely work more for a “pump” on arm exercises nowadays than I use to. It’s important to progress in weight, just like any other exercise, but the kind of movements that are done for arms are going to end up being more limited by weight. Focus on the muscle, not the movement.
Do you mean should you do biceps on a different day than triceps, or should you do both on a day all by themselves?
It is generally best to split up your training based on how you like to train.
Splits are one of the most over analyzed and least important aspects of training.
Put your arms where you want them in a way where you have the most energy and best recovery for the things you want to improve the most without doing something stupid (like hammering something that makes it hard to do what is on your schedule for the next workout or starts causing joint pain). That?s it.
I honestly don’t think it really makes much of a difference.
You can always try it for awhile, track your progress, and see how it goes. Weight lifting is a long term endeavor and bodybuilding is highly individualized.
i see hundreds of posts complaining about other people who spend a whole day doing biceps or triceps. “Oh i just finished my workout and this guy was still at the preacher station pumping out curls” yet people still seem to advocate this type of training. Im not saying its good or bad its just ironic
[quote]starbukkk wrote:
I’ve been wondering if a separate day on arms is the most effective way to build muscle?
Ive felt better results so far on a separate day [/quote]
Just keep doing what is working, until it stops working.
Don’t get greedy!
[quote]SSC wrote:
Here’s how an arm day should be approached, IMO, unless one finds this doesn’t work for them, etc.
Triceps ALWAYS before biceps
Triceps should consider,
- “Big movements” first - Dips, close-grip presses, heavy work. Lower reps here.
- Making sure all heads of the triceps are sufficiently hit
- Using lighter/isolation exercises typically for higher reps towards the END of that muscle group. I.E. Close Grip Benching → Skullcrushers/Overhead Extensions → Pushdowns → Kickbacks
Biceps always second. I like to use these principles:
- At least a few “heavy” sets taken to failure. Likely no more than 1-3 sets of <8 reps
- I whore out preacher movements for most work. Helps to negate body english from sets.
- Actually hitting brachioradialis / forearm-intense movements first. (Includes rope curls, reverse curls, hammers, pinwheels.)
- Hitting “ball” of forearm work last
- Typically still structuring bicep workouts in a descending manner like triceps, such as…
Hammer Curls → Heavy Barbell Curls → EZ Bar Preacher Curls → K pipe curls
And, most notably, I definitely work more for a “pump” on arm exercises nowadays than I use to. It’s important to progress in weight, just like any other exercise, but the kind of movements that are done for arms are going to end up being more limited by weight. Focus on the muscle, not the movement.[/quote]
would just like to elaborate a bit on what mah boy said here.
tris before bis is done to prevent injury. with a good bicep pump, it’s real easy to tear the biceps on the negative as you do heavy tricep pressing and your forearm smashes into your bicep.
you may find that certain movements don’t work well for you. for instance, I can’t go heavy on overhead extensions because my shoulders don’t like it regardless of how I position myself, and I can’t do many sets of supinated curls because my wrists get eaten up. that being said, there are many exercise variations possible, and even on the same exercise (pushdowns for instance) I can hit my lateral head or long head depending on how I do the exercise.
I think as little body English should be used as possible on heavy sets. BB curls for example, I don’t think it’s all that bad to use a little back hitch and/or to allow your elbows to come forward a bit and let the front delts assist somewhat as long as you work to improve the quality of your reps over time. for instance, if your top set was to 8 reps and you had to cheat the last two reps up, that’s ok as long as you didn’t hurt yourself and as long as you work to clean those two reps up next time.
eat on arms day the same as you would to encourage growth on any other day.
pick exercises with a clear progression. I LOVED being a badass (relative to the small fry at my gym) doing weighted dips. I got up to 90x8 or so at a bw around 200 on my bulk. the closer I got to 210, I wasn’t sure if the extra 10 lbs bw “counted”. that’s probably splitting hairs but I decided to go with CGBP anyway since the weight on the bar doesn’t change.
good luck. I experienced the most growth on my arms when I still had a dedicated arms day, about 1/4" a month.