Vin Diesel is a movie icon for two reasons: one is his deep voice, (that we can’t give you) but the other is his bulging arms. As an action star, Diesel is regularly required to run around in a torn t-shirt or vest and the only way to do this and look good is with a serious set of guns. Thanks to the likes of Diesel, every guy wishes they had massive muscular arms. In fact a recent survey showed that in modern culture arms are seen as the true measure of fitness and masculinity by most people, so lets pump those guns!
Why are arms so important?
I shouldn’t need to tell you why arms are important, You use them for pretty much everything. Whether it be driving your car, mowing the lawn or just lifting a cup of tea to your lips. In all upper body compound exercises your arms are the secondary muscle used. So when working your back, chest, or shoulders you are working your arms as well.
When most people think of arms they think Biceps. Ask someone to make a muscleman pose and they’ll flex their biceps every time. But the key to big arms is not just through having big biceps it is through training the triceps as well. The triceps are the muscles covering the back of your arm, these are the muscles you use to push and extend your arm whereas the bicep is just for pulling objects. When you work one you must work the other and you will soon see an increase in overall mass. In the routine we start with triceps as it is the larger muscle and therefore needs to be exhausted first.
I have also included an exercise for your forearms. Your forearm will be in use in every exercise we do here, but it is good to give it an extra bit of training as this is the first part people see coming out from under your shirt sleeve and it is also required to do more work in a day to day basis than either your tricep or bicep. Think about it: every time you so much as pick up a drink you are working that forearm!
Breathing
Breathing correctly is essential as your muscles need oxygen to function. Too many people hold their breath when using weights, don’t do it. All you will do is cause your muscles to fatigue faster than usual and you might wind up passing out. Holding your breath also puts heavy pressure on your internal organs which over time could lead to serious damage. The typical breathing used for any resistance exercise is to breathe out on the effort (e.g the push or pull) and in on the release or return to starting position.
Range of Motion: ROM
Everyone’s range of motion is slightly different. This is down to differences in flexibility, limb length, height, weight etc varying between individuals. The range of motion is the limit of your bodies natural movement from the starting position of that exercise to the finish position. It is good to test this to understand what your range of motion is so that you know how far to push your body and whether you are truly completing those reps or not.
Equipment
You can do all of these exercises at home with minimal equipment. The entire routine can be completed with the use of dumb-bells, resistance bands, Kettle weights or even a weighted bag.
The Exercises
1: The Bench Dip
To do this exercise you need to find some kind of ledge (an arm chair, a bed, a strong table) that will support your weight. Sit on the edge of that surface and place your hands flat on either side of you. Then, taking your weight on your hands walk your legs out about one to two steps away from you (you can also place your feet on a swiss ball or bench of equal height for added resistance) you should already feel the strain on your triceps here. Now lower your body by bending your arms , you should only come down so far that your arms form a right angle. Breathe in as you do this.
Now push out using only your arms (your legs are for stability only) and breathe out as you extend.
That’s one rep, now keep going!
DON’T thrust up with your legs or swing your core, this is a tricep exercise and should be focused on the three heads of your tricep muscle.
2: Triangle Push-up
Starting in the traditional push-up position, with your hands shoulder width apart move them towards your centre so that they are inside of your shoulder width and turn your hands toward each other so that they form a triangle between them. Now keeping your back straight bend your arms and lower your body till it is roughly a fists distance from the floor breathing in as you go. Now push out bringing your body back up, breathing out as you do. This will again hit all three heads of the tricep and as a bonus will work your chest, shoulders and core.
REMEMBER to keep your back straight throughout each repetition. If you find that too hard you can perform this same exercise on your knees.
DON’T bounce yourself up and down. You will complete more reps, but you wont pressure the muscle as much if you don’t slow down those reps. You need to pressure the muscle to make it grow! Take about two seconds to complete each half of the movement.
3: Tricep extensions
This exercise mainly targets the lateral head of the Tricep, and helps to give great shape and definition to that outer arm. There are two methods in which you can do this. Both work exactly the same muscle but I have included both methods to give you an option to pick which best suits your body.
Method 1: The Kickback.
With the weight in your right hand bend over making sure to keep your back straight, support yourself on the arm of a chair or the end of a bed with your left arm. Draw back your right leg so that it will not be in the way of your movement. Keeping your right arm bent raise your right elbow and tuck it into your side this is the starting position, Breathe in. Now without moving your elbow extend your right arm behind you, breathe out and return. That’s one rep completed! Keep going! Then when you have completed your set switch to the opposite side.
DON’T swing your arm or twist your back! This is an isolation exercise and you wont be working your arms if you bring larger muscle groups into play or if you use bad form.
Method 2: the Overhead.
If you don’t get on with that method you can do the same exercise and hit the same muscle in the same way by doing this. Starting off in a seated position raise the dumb-bell above your head with one arm. Now similar to the overhead extension breathe in as you bend the elbow and lower the weight behind your neck. When you have reached the limit of your range of motion breathe out and extend the dumb-bell back above your head. Keep your elbow in the same position throughout, it should be in line with your head!
DON’T overextend the weight behind you as you could damage your shoulder, only go as far as you need to, in order to feel the burn.
4: The Bicep curl
From a standing position, back straight, feet shoulder width apart, take a weight in each hand and hold them by your sides. Inhale and turn the weight so that your palms are facing out in front of you. This is the starting position. If you look down at your arms you will be able to see that the bicep is already tense. Now raise the weight in each hand by curling each arm it towards its own shoulder, breathing out as you do. Keep your elbows in the same position by your sides and lower the weight back to the starting position. That’s one rep!
REMEMBER to keep your elbow static and only move your arms. DON’T swing your back or thrust with your hips as I’ve seen some idiots do you might lift more weight doing that but this will not help you work out your biceps. Like all of the others this is an isolation exercise.
5: The Hammer curl
Starting in the same position as in the previous exercise, this time keep the weights by your side with your palms facing inward towards you. Now raise the weight in each hand towards it’s own shoulder, breathing out as you do. Keep your elbows in the same position by your sides throughout, and when you have reached the limit of your range of motion lower the weight back to the starting position and breathe in. That’s one rep! Now complete your set!
DON’T swing your arms. As before this will not increase your biceps if you cheat yourself by swinging your arms or body to complete reps. This is an isolation exercise which focuses primarily on the outer part of the Bicep.
6: The Concentration curl
In a seated position with the weight in one hand spread your legs apart as far as comfortable. Now rest the elbow of the arm lifting the weight against your inner thigh and allow your arm to extend to almost full extension. Don’t lock the arm out as this puts pressure on your elbow joint and not on the muscle. Breathe in, this is the starting position. Now curl the arm towards your opposite shoulder using only your Bicep to do this and breathing out as you go. When you have reached the limit of your ROM extend the arm back to the starting position. that’s one rep!
DON’T rock your body or twist your back! The clue is in the name of this exercise!
7: Alternating Curls
Follow from the setup to the starting position of the Bicep curl. This exercise is almost exactly the same except for one thing. This time you do not lift each arm at the same time. What you do instead is raise one arm individually. Then once you have completed your first rep and are lowering the weight begin bringing the weight up on the opposite arm. Once you have completed a rep on that side begin lowering the weight and bringing up the other arm and continue until you have completed all your reps.
MAKE SURE you are always working both arms. By this I mean that when you are raising a weight with one arm you must be lowering with the other. Don’t just allow the weight to flop to your side on the way back down Lowering the weight is one half of the rep!
8: The Forearm Curl
Starting in the same position as in the last exercise only this time with your palms facing down tuck your elbows in at your side and curl the weights up simultaneously. When you have reached the limit of your ROM return the weight to the starting position slowly. Treat this curl like all of the others, Lowering the weight is half of the rep.
KEEP your wrist turned back slightly like you are pulling on the acceleration of a motorbike. This will keep your forearm under tension throughout.
