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Monday, May 20, 2013

Get Big Arms: Noah Siegel’s Sleeve-Busting Workout

Get the horseshoe triceps, baseball biceps, and hulking forearms you always wanted. This short, high-intensity workout will show you the way!
by Noah Siegel Apr 10, 2013
I've seen countless people come into the gym and throw dumbbells around like potato sacks. They act wild, scream and grunt like gorillas in heat, and then spend their rest periods flexing in the mirror. Although these dudes seem hard-core, they're actually putting a lot of energy into something that won't garner results. They must learn to train smarter.
Many people fail to realize that they already train their arms multiple times per week, without ever doing any direct arm work. Every time we do a pressing movement, we use our triceps.
Every time we pull, we use our biceps and forearms. Because our biceps and triceps get a lot of work during compound movements, it's important to limit the number of sets during isolation work. With dedicated arm training, keep the sets low and the intensity high.
An even bigger problem is that most people don't understand anatomy well enough to train their biceps and triceps effectively. So to build big arms, we need to start by using our head.
How Your Arms Work ///
The major action of the biceps brachii is elbow flexion and forearm rotation. The name—biceps—means that the muscle is made of two heads, a long and a short. These muscle heads have two different origins but come together to form one tendon, which attaches to the radius.
You can feel your biceps working if you put your left and on your right biceps muscle and then rotate your forearm from a pronated (palm down) to a supinated (palm up) position. You can also feel your biceps participate if you put your left hand on your right biceps and flex your elbow.
Your biceps can fatigue easily, and thus relies on your front deltoid and brachioradialis (anterior forearm muscle) for aid. To get the most out of your biceps training, you need movements that include both flexion and supination.

The triceps brachii is named similarly because of its three heads. The triceps is a slightly larger portion of the arm and just as complex as the biceps. The triceps main function is to extend the elbow. To feel your triceps, place your left hand on the back of your right arm and then extend your right arm until it is completely straight. The long and lateral heads of the triceps create the "horseshoe" shape everyone is gunning for. The medial head is a "deep" muscle.
Not all three heads originate at the same place, but they all insert into the elbow. The long head of the triceps originates at the scapula. To isolate it, your elbow must be over your head.
Sleeve-Busting Arms Workout
    Now that I dropped some knowledge bombs, let's blow those arms up! Do this workout once per week on any day you choose. Generally, I do an abs/arms/forearms day later in the week after I've already worked my larger muscle groups.

    BICEPS

  • Spider Curl Spider Curl

    Spider Curl

    4 sets: 12, 8, 6, 15 reps
    • Set the bench at a 45-degree angle and place your chest at the top of the bench. When you curl your arms up, don't raise your elbows. The last set should be relatively light.
  • Incline Dumbbell Curl Incline Dumbbell Curl

    Incline Dumbbell Curl

    3 sets: 8, 8, 6 reps
    • Curl with both arms at the same time, supinating your wrists as you go up. Lower the weights slowly. Go fairly heavy on this movement. If you do have to cheat, do it on the way up, so you can fight it on the way down.
  • Barbell Curl Barbell Curl

    Barbell Curl

    3 sets: 8, 8, 12 reps
    • Do this exercise with your back against a wall and your elbows down. Keep the eccentric portion slow and controlled. I find that biceps grow extraordinarily well on the negative work load.
  • Preacher Curl Preacher Curl

    Preacher Curl

    Dropset to failure
    • Load a bar with weight you can easily strip. Start with a weight you can hit for 12 reps. Then take off some weight and do as many reps as you can. Take off more weight, and do it again and again. By the end of this set, your biceps should be pretty much dead.

    TRICEPS

  • Triceps Pushdown Triceps Pushdown

    Cable Push-Down with Bar

    4 sets: 12, 8, 8, 8 reps
    • This is a staple in every triceps workout I do. Keep the body up straight and bend from the elbow only. Allow the arm to come up slightly past perpendicular. This exercise should be done as heavy as possible, including two dropsets.
  • Seated Triceps Press Seated Triceps Press

    Seated Triceps Press

    3 sets: 10, 8, 8 reps
    • This is a serious mass builder for the long head of the triceps. Go as heavy as you can. Don't let your elbows flare. Keep them tucked in tight.
  • Low Cable Triceps Extension Low Cable Triceps Extension

    Low Cable Triceps Extension

    3 sets: 12, 12, 15 reps
    • This exercise is similar to a standard dumbbell kick-back, but it keeps the tension on the triceps the entire movement. Be sure to keep the elbow up and to fully extend the arm back. Control the weight back to starting position.
  • Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension

    Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension

    3 sets: 15, 15, 20 reps
    • Use a dumbbell in each hand and press them simultaneously.

    FOREARMS

  • Seated Palms-Down Barbell Wrist Curl Seated Palms-Down Barbell Wrist Curl

    Seated Palms-Down Barbell Wrist Curl

    4 sets of 25 reps
    • Lay your forearms flat on the end of a bench so your hands are hanging off. Let the bar roll all the way down to the last finger tip and squeeze everything back up until your wrist is fully contracted.
  • Standing Palms-Up Barbell Behind The Back Wrist Curl Standing Palms-Up Barbell Behind The Back Wrist Curl

    Standing Palms-Up Barbell Behind The Back Wrist Curl

    3 sets: 15 reps
    • Use the straight bar. Place it behind you, just below your glutes. Let it roll down your hand and squeeze back up, fully contracting your wrists.
  • Reverse Barbell Curl Reverse Barbell Curl

    Reverse Barbell Curl

    3 sets: 15 reps
    • This movement hits my forearms hard. Keep it strict so you don't use your shoulders to lift the weight. Curl only from the elbow.
  • Hammer Curls Hammer Curls

    Hammer Curls (Optional finisher)

    1-2 sets: failure
    • If your body allows it, try them. You can be less strict with the form—throw weight around and just burn out those last fibers.

This workout provides more than sufficient arm work. Make sure to keep the intensity high and the pace quick. Hit them hard, hit them fast, and watch 'em grow!
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Best Chest: Noah Siegel's Pec-Building Workout

Nothing drops jaws like a big, thick chest. Not sure how to get one? You need these workouts!
by Noah Siegel Mar 13, 2013
The first thing that everyone notices on a great male physique is a big, thick, round chest. It doesn't matter whether the guy is in a bar or at the gym, when his muscle-bound chest goes by, everyone takes a peek. If you already are that guy, congratulations—you can celebrate a set of primo pectorals. If you're not there yet, then you did the right thing by clicking on this article. I am going to let you in on a few secrets to developing the chest you always wanted.
There are no two ways about it, if you want a big chest, you better get ready to lift big. The biggest mistake I see in the gym is the rookie 17-year-old doing endless sets of cable flyes. Everyone seems to worry about the small details before they even have the muscle to make those details stand out.

Keep It Simple

For a big chest, the best things you can do are heavy compound (multi-joint) movements. No matter if you're hitting a flat bench or an incline bench with dumbbells, you have to put extreme stress on the muscle fibers to make them grow.
Generally, this happens best in the six-rep range. Now, I know every bodybuilding book you have ever read says to do 12 reps, but in my experience that number isn't enough to stimulate the proper motor units and fast-twitch muscle fibers.
You need to do heavier sets. Teach the central nervous system to fire more motor units at the same time, and muscles can contract faster, tighter, and harder.
But we're not done yet! Even after we have taught more muscle fibers to fire more effectively, we need to cause hypertrophy to get that muscle to blow up.
The most effective way to do this is by training your chest twice per week, every week.

The Big Chest Breakdown

Your split for chest should comprise two days. The first chest day will be low-volume, high- intensity training. Even though you only do six reps, the weight should be heavy enough that you reach failure on that sixth rep. You'll do 10 total sets in the 6-rep range over three different movements. Give your chest at least 72 hours of rest before you hit it again.
The second day will consist of higher-volume, lower-intensity work. Notice, I didn't say "low intensity"—I said "lower." For this workout, you do 15 total sets in the 12-30 range over four different movements.

Better Chest Moves

What separates the big boys from the rest of the crowd is that nice V-shaped notch of muscle right by the clavicle. No one respects droopy-looking pecs—they just look weird and weak. Here are some effective moves you can implement for a bigger, badder chest.

1. Incline Bench Press
The most common exercise to create that upper chest is the incline bench. And while it's effective, guys tend to cheat by lowering the angle so it's almost like a flat bench. If you choose to do incline, use strict form and remember to contract your chest; do not rely on your shoulders.
2. Barbell Neck (Barbell Guillotine) Press
Set up the flat bench on the Smith machine for safety and align the bar so it will come down right below your Adam's apple. Begin with light weight and do the movement slowly. Make sure you are not overly externally rotating your shoulders and that you come down as close as you can to your neck without pain.
You'll feel a big stretch across the top of your chest and should get a dramatic feeling of contraction along the clavicle. Remember to concentrate on squeezing your chest. You don't need to lift a ton of weight.
3. Modified Incline Dumbbell Flye
Do this movement on a 45-degree incline bench. Start with your hands supinated at hip level with a moderately light dumbbell in each hand. Arch your back, keep your chest high, and scoop the weights up across the body in a hugging motion until they reach face level. You should feel a contraction in the top of the chest and also in the front deltoid.
This will give you that great chest/deltoid tie-in that everyone wants. Concentrate on the contraction of your chest—not how much weight you can do. For an added burn, follow this movement with normal incline flyes until failure.

Sample Workouts

Chest Day 1: Heavy
Chest Day 2: Lighter
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