Thursday, March 18, 2010

Arm Training: Less is Best!


When training your arms don't over do it. Some of the most common mistakes people make are doing too many sets, too many reps and training arms too frequently.

You need to remember that biceps and triceps get a lot of work all week long when training your back, chest and shoulders so they don't need many direct sets of overload. I recommend 4-5 sets maximum for biceps and the same for triceps. I split these sets up using basic compound exercises and the Max-OT principles.

So when you plan your next arm workout remember to keep the volume low and the intensity high!

Believe. Achieve.

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2 comments:

  1. Jeff,

    I’m sure I am not the only one who is going to have difficulty following this advice. My upper arm training usually consists of 3 different exercises of 9 total sets for both Biceps and Triceps. I like to utilize a mix of dumbbell, barbell, cable, or even some machine work in order to provide a variety of movements, isolation, and intensity. If I were to follow your 5-6 set recommendation, do you feel it would be better for me to drop an entire exercise or reduce the sets down to just 2 for each one? I understand your point about the work that the Biceps and Triceps get while training Chest, Back, and Shoulders and I certainly don’t want to over-train my arms. I don’t feel like I’m over-training while doing a total of 9 sets each, but I guess that’s the point isn’t it? Over-training is probably one of the biggest issues many of us face, mostly because it’s not always obvious. Great post, great advice. Thanks!

    Kirk

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  2. I think it is very important to keep the volume low and the intensity high for maximizing drug free muscle gains.

    I believe you'd be better off with 4-5 sets total maximum for bis and tris.

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