Muscle Building Tips - Add 1 Inch to Your Arms in a Week - Part I

Most people who want bigger arms focus on training their arms. Makes sense, right? The problem is that your body will only allow so much disproportinate growth. In other words, if you don't train your big muscles like you legs and back hard enough to make them grow, your arms will only get so big. So if you want big arms you need to train your legs and back hard.

There's another complication with focusing on your arm training. Most people end up overtraining and not only do their arms refuse to grow, they get smaller and weaker which is the total opposite of what we're trying to accomplish. Why does this happen? Most people, when trying to specialize on their arms, increase the volume and intensity of their arm training. The problem is that their biceps and triceps already get a lot of work via back, chest and shoulder training.

So how can we focus on our biceps and triceps without falling into the trap of overtraining? By training smarter and harder and not necessarily working longer. I'm always amazed at the arm training routines I see in the magazines; 5 or 6 exercises for the biceps and the same or more for the triceps, and a total of 15 to 20 sets of more. That's nuts!

Here's a great weight training routine that can add an inch or more to your arms in a week. That's three total workouts. For this week, you'll do a full body routine, working your entire body three nonconsecutive days per week. For example, training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Set totals don't include warm ups

Squat - 2 x 10 - 12

Pullover - 1 x 10 - 12

Dumbbell Flye - 1 x 10 - 12

Dumbbell Upright Row - 1 x 10 - 12

Arm Specialization Routine

Triceps

Dip - Bodyweight x 1 rep

Tricep Pressdown 1 x 10 - 12 (6)

Biceps

Pullup - Bodyweight x 1 rep

Barbell Curl - 1 x 10 - 12 (6)

That's it! Doesn't look like much, does it? Ah, but let me explain how you perform the arm specialization routine. For the dip and the pullup, you perform the 1 rep in super slow. And I mean super slow. Perform the positive portion of the rep first and take 30 seconds to complete it. Then perform the negative and again take 30 seconds. The entire rep should take 60 seconds.

The next exercise (either the tricep pressdown or the barbell curl) is done in superset fashion. No rest for the wicked, or those that want big arms. Do a set to failure, failing around 10 to 12 reps. Then, drop some weight and immediately do a drop set that gets you around another 6 reps. That's it. The work is very short but brutally intense.

Now, a lot of you may not be able to complete a 60 second rep on the pull up or the dip. That's fine, do what you can and try to extend the time in each of the next two workouts. For those of you that are super strong (or if you get strong enough and go back to this routine later) you can try the ultimate one rep dip or pullup.

In this version you start with the negative instead and you do the following:

Negative - 30 seconds

Positive - 30 seconds

Negative - 30 seconds

Now, some keys to making this work. Obviously, you have to be ready to work extremely hard. That shouldn't be a problem, as the routine is very, very short. If you've been working out hard for awhile, or doing very long workouts, you'll probably get the most out of this routine by staying out of the gym for at least a week. Not easy, I know. I just did this myself after going all out for about 13 weeks. It was tough but I knew I needed it.

You also have to get enough nutritious calories. Have a high carb, high protein drink right after your workout.

Minimize any other physical activity. Get 6 meals a day with lots of protein and calories.