Admit it, you're not happy with the size of your arms

Despite the size M UnderArmour shirts you wear in your valiant attempts to impress girls, you're not fooling anyone - least of all yourself.

But you are not alone. Pick any 100 strength athletes and it's unlikely that you'll find even one who is happy with the development of their arms. The fact is, hundreds of thousands of strength athletes have grown up admiring Arnold's arms and wishing they could one day achieve his impressive arm development.

Sadly, most exercisers never achieve impressive arm development.

What are these strength athletes doing wrong? It's quite simple. They're focusing on isolation exercises for the arms, and as much as we hate to break bad news - those 17 sets of biceps curls you've been doing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the past five years haven't done you any favors. As you're about to learn, from an arm development perspective, those sets may be the last thing you need right now.

There's one rule of training for big arms: you need to focus on getting stronger on multi-joint exercises. And when I say multi-joint exercises, I mean just that - exercises that involve multiple joints, that allow you to move the most weight, and that give you the most back for your efforts.

Below you can see a highly complex model that illustrates the pyramid of big arm development.

Okay, maybe it's not very complex, but we'll explain it to you in detail anyway.

Squats and deadlifts

Why on earth are squats and deadlifts important for arm development? There are two primary reasons for this:

• The body seems to grow proportionally
• Posterior chain strength and core stability provide the foundation for increased upper body strength.
• Yes, yes, we said there were two reasons, but let's be honest: squats and deadlifts are for tough guys. And hot chicks want to hang out with tough guys, and they don't really care about the level of development of your brachioradialis.

Legs for big arms?

You'll rarely see someone with 50 centimeter upper arms and skinny legs. Sure, just like there are male Justin Bieber fans, there can be, but in steroid-free exercisers, arm growth is usually accompanied by body-wide muscle growth. There is some truth to the saying that you need to gain 10 kilos to gain 2.5 centimeters of arm circumference.

For exercisers using anabolic support, building big arms without accompanying strong legs is somewhat more achievable, but the majority of steroid-free exercisers would be well advised to focus on squats and deadlifts until they have achieved sufficient base strength.

Exercisers who are strong in squats and deadlifts exhibit excellent back extensor strength. The back extensors hold the back upright during barbell curls, reverse curls and dumbbell curls - to name but a few. A weak back, on the other hand, will limit the weight you can use during curls.

On a side note, this is also why many ego-driven exercisers look like they're dragging an elephant while performing arm curls - their backs are so weak that they have no choice but to bend forward and backward and use momentum to get the weight moving.

Exercisers who are strong in squats and deadlifts also have superior leg and hip strength. Powerlifters will tell you that leg pressure is critical for increased strength in bench presses and close bench presses. Yes, if you bench press correctly, your legs will support the movement to a significant degree, while weak legs will limit the amount of weight you can move on the bench press. Do you recognize the trend?

A good long-term goal is 200 kilos for squats with thighs parallel to the floor and 250 kilos for conventional bench presses. If you have already achieved this, then congratulations! We don't need to tell you that you need to train your legs because you are already strong in these exercises - you get it. But those who can't do this would be well advised to increase their weights on squats and deadlifts before moving on to the next "arm specialization" program.

Upper body push and pull exercises

Finding an exerciser with huge upper arms who can't bench press 100 kilos at least ten times or perform at least ten pull-ups with their own body weight (without cheating) is about as hard as finding a Victoria's Secret model who wants to have wild, passionate sex with you. It's just not going to happen!

If you want big arms, these are the exercises that will help you the most:

• Pressing exercises: Push-ups with added weight (bands, chains, weight plates or if you're a ninja with a hot chick on your back), bench press, close bench press board press, floor press, incline bench press, bench press on a reverse incline bench, standing shoulder press and dips with added weight.
• Pull-up exercises: Pull-ups with additional weight with overhand, underhand or parallel grip, bent-over rowing, T-bar rowing, rowing with supported chest, one-arm rowing. Seated rowing and reverse rowing.

A good long-term goal would be 150 kilos on the bench press and pull-ups with 50 kilos of additional weight. Give yourself a pat on the back if you can already do this - and work on increasing your reps!

Is it okay to isolate?

If you're honest, you thought we'd say 'no' now, right?

Some isolation training is perfectly fine, but you should understand that isolation training is just the icing on the cake. When performed in combination with heavy upper and lower body multi-joint exercises, it will provide some extra mass around the arm muscles.

Next, we'll provide a compelling rationale for the use of isolation exercises for those looking to maximize arm development.

Isolation exercises for the arms

Basic anatomy and physiology dictates that you cannot optimally develop your upper arm musculature solely by performing multi-joint exercises. Note that the length/tension ratio of the biceps and triceps is suboptimal during multi-joint exercises.

In the starting position of pull-ups (where you hang from the bar with outstretched arms), the biceps are shortened at the shoulder joint, for example, while they are stretched at the elbow. During the dynamic movement, these aspects are then reversed so that the biceps are shortened at the elbow while they are stretched at the shoulder. As a result, the length/tension ratio is impaired, which limits the force release of these muscles.

As we will show, the muscle architecture of the biceps and triceps also requires an approach from different angles to fully activate all motor units. This can only be achieved through the use of isolation exercises.

Time for studies

Studies show that the long muscle head of the biceps is maximally active during exercises such as incline bench curls and drag curls, where the upper arm is extended behind the body (Sakurai, et al, 1998; Basmajian and Latif, 1957).

This is due to the fact that the long head of the biceps is stretched more than the short head of the biceps. When the shoulder is tensed in front of the body during exercises such as Scott curls, the long head of the biceps becomes more ineffective, forcing the short head of the biceps to bear more of the load.

The long biceps head also becomes inefficient at 90 degrees of abduction (Habermeyer, et al, 1987), which is why cable curls on the crossover pulley with the top pulley of the cable pulley in a high position will place a greater load on the short biceps head.

Considering that the biceps are powerful radioulunar supinators, exercises such as hammer curls will make the biceps inefficient, thereby increasing the work of the brachialis and brachioradialis muscles (Enoka, 2002).

Furthermore, scientific research shows that aspects of the biceps are "partitioned", with both the long and short heads of the biceps consisting of individual architectural divisions activated by private branches of the primary nerves (Segal, et al, 1991).

EMG studies of the long head of the biceps brachii show that muscle fibers in the lateral portion of the muscle are recruited for elbow flexion, fibers in the middle portion are recruited for outward rotation, and centrally located fibers are recruited for nonlinear combinations of flexion and outward rotation (ter Haar Romeny, et al, 1982; ter Haar Romeny, et al, 1984).

In addition, the short head of the biceps appears to be more active in the final range of an arm curl (i.e. greater elbow flexion), whereas the long head of the biceps is more active in the early phase of the movement (Brown, et al, 1993). These factors lend credence to the need to perform a range of different biceps exercises through the full range of motion to maximize the hypertrophy response.

The long head of the triceps has an optimal length-tension relationship when the shoulder is contracted to approximately 180 degrees (Le Bozec, et al, 1980). Since the position of the shoulder joint changes over the range of motion of multi-joint exercises, these exercises inevitably do not allow optimal development of the long head of the triceps.

Only by performing exercises such as overhead triceps presses will you be able to directly target the long head of the triceps and maximize its hypertrophy response.

Since the lateral and medial muscle heads of the triceps do not cross the shoulder joint, these muscle heads become more active during exercises such as cable tricep presses and dips where the shoulder joint is extended, making the long head of the triceps inefficient.

There are dozens of good isolation exercises for the arms. These include barbell curls, reverse curls, hammer curls, alternating dumbbell curls, concentration curls, scott curls, incline bench curls, drag curls, crossover cable curls, prone tricep presses, overhead tricep presses, cable tricep presses, tricep presses with a rope handle, kickbacks and many more.

Let's put it all together

• Build strong back extensors, hips and legs through squats and deadlifts.
• Focus on progressive overload on upper body multi-joint exercises such as close grip bench presses and pull-ups with added weight.
• Add a selection of arm isolation exercises, but don't necessarily aim for progressive overload with these exercises. Focus on feeling the right muscles doing the work and consciously try to contract those muscles against resistance. For isolation exercises, use higher repetitions and try to push blood to the intended areas.
• Don't spend the entire year specializing your arms. This is not a joke. Choose 3 to 4 week phases throughout the year to challenge your arms and make them grow.

Three different training programs with a focus on maximum arm development

Bret Contreras - 3-day full body program

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

Tony Gentilcore - 4 days lower body/upper body split program

Day 1 (preferably Monday)

Day 2 (preferably Tuesday)

Day 3 (preferably Thursday)

Day 4 (preferably Saturday)

Brad Schoenfeld - 3 day split program

Monday: Chest, shoulders, triceps:

Wednesday: legs, calves:

Friday: back, biceps, abdomen:

Summary

Regardless of what the guys on forums say, admitting that you want big, bulky arms is neither silly nor immature.

Heck, we'd even go so far as to say that those who criticize exercisers who strive for big arms the loudest are the ones who are the most frustrated with their lack of success in their arm development. But just because massive arms are the goal doesn't mean your training program should consist of 26 different variations of elbow flexions and extensions.

Remember that arm growth doesn't happen in a vacuum, which is a polite way of saying the following:

1. Your arms will not grow optimally if the rest of your body is not sufficiently stimulated
2. Your arms won't grow optimally if your exercise program is sh...een
3. Hard work and desire will get you there. Apply some of what you've learned in this article and start filling your size M UnderArmour shirt.

References

1. Brown, JMM, Solomon, C, and Paton, M. Further evidence of functional differentiation within biceps brachii. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol 33: 301-309, 1993
2. Basmajian JV, Latif A (1957) Integrated actions and functions of the chief flexors of the elbow. J Bone Joint Surg [39-A]. 5:1106-1117
3. Enoka R. Neuromechanics of human movement, 3rd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2002.
4. Habermeyer P, Kaiser E, Knappe M, et al. (1987). Functional anatomy and biomechanics of the long biceps tendon. Trauma Surgeon 90:319-329, 1987
5. Le Bozec, S., B. Maton, and J.C. Cnockaert. The synergy of elbow extensor muscles during dynamic work in man. I. Elbow extension. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 44:255-269. 1980.
6. Sakurai G, Ozaki J, Tomita Y, Nishimoto K, Tamai S. (1998). Electromyographic analysis of shoulder joint function of the biceps brachii muscle during isometric contraction. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 354:123-31.
7. Segal, RL, Wolf, SL, DeCamp, MJ, Chopp, MT, and English, AW. Anatomical partitioning of three multiarticular human muscles. Acta Anat 142: 261-266, 1991.
8. ter Haar Romeny, BM, Denier van der Gon, JJ, and Gielen, CCAM. Changes in recruitment order of motor units in the human biceps muscle, Exp Neurol 78: 360-368, 1982.
9. ter Haar Romeny, BM, Denier van der Gon, JJ, and Gielen, CCAM. Relation between location of a motor unit in the human biceps brachii and its critical firing levels for different, tasks. Exp Neurol 85: 631-650, 1984.

From Bret Contreras, Tony Gentilcore, Brad Schoenfeld

Source: https: //www.t-nation.com/workouts/3-total-body-programs-for-big-arms

I am bored. Why am I bored? Because of the hypertrophy training methods of today. Nearly all "modern" methods don't come close to what I would consider optimal for fast and efficient results.

In fact, no one seems to have developed a training methodology that intelligently challenges our full adaptive capacities. Sure, 5 x 5 and 10 x 3 parameters work well, but there has to be someone pushing hypertrophy training further.

I would go so far as to say that modern hypertrophy methods are no more efficient than methods from decades past. Heck, if slow eccentric actions, 8 to 10 reps, 3 to 4 sets and five days of recovery are the best, then why are so few exercisers building muscle at a viable rate? Come on, are we going to sit around for the next five years repeating the same old boring training methods?

Okay, some of you are pissed off now. You're pissed because

A. this is the way you train and you're dogmatic
B. these are the methods you write about or train your clients with... and you're dogmatic

Good. If this is the case, then I have a little experiment for you. Spend eight weeks training your latissimus with all your favorite back exercises using slow eccentric repetitions, 8 to 10 repetitions, 3 to 4 sets and 5 days of recovery between your back training sessions. Analyze your results afterwards. Then spend weeks training to be a gymnast on rings. Hire a gymnastics coach to show you how to train on rings. He will probably have you hanging on the rings for an hour almost every day. Then compare the results with your "traditional" weight training parameters.

Fortunately, I have observed such a phenomenon. Let me tell you, the results of these two drastically different training methods are not comparable. An exerciser who has spent eight weeks training on the rings will blow away the results produced by a traditional latissimus program. So why are we still using the same old training parameters? Obviously, this isn't an issue of short-term adaptive hypertrophy limitations (since significant latissimus hypertrophy can be achieved by spending eight weeks on the rings), it's an issue of suboptimal parameters not being buried deep where they belong. Where should they be buried? Right next to Jimmy Hoffa. That seems like the perfect place.

Are you a tempo junkie?

You are constantly inundated with enough additional parameters that seem to make everything more complicated and lead you to think that the results of modern training methods must be better than the results of times past. Counting muscle action phases comes to mind here, for example. If you are honest with yourself, has counting the seconds of the concentric and eccentric phases of your exercises improved your results? If it has, then you are one of the few who have. Sure, counting the seconds and controlling the tempo may have gotten you to a different length of time under tension on your sets, but you could have easily accomplished that with dramatic changes to your repetition parameters. Instead, the cerebral activity of counting the seconds during the different muscle action phases does nothing more than distract you from putting more neural input into your all-important motor neurons.

And that, my friend, simply reduces your strength. And anything that reduces your neuronal drive is disastrous for your hypertrophy.

My rowing back

I'm not here to tell you that all modern hypertrophy programs are garbage. No, I wouldn't even think about that. If I were to point a finger at someone, three fingers would point back at me. But I will say that exercisers don't push themselves far enough after they've built initial levels of strength and mass. I'll use myself as an example. Let's say you've just started training and are following an anti-bodybuilding hypertrophy program. The results are good, which is why you stick with this program. If progress stagnates later, you move on to a program like the Quattro Domino program.

Excellent! So you can be proud of the fact that you have increased the frequency and are now training each muscle group four times a week instead of twice a week at the beginning. But what's next? Do you move on to another program and repeat the cycle? Not if you're looking for the biggest hypertrophy gains in the shortest amount of time possible. It's time to crank up the frequency!

Why little Johnny can't train like Arnold

Unfortunately, simply increasing your training frequency for each muscle group to say six days a week falls flat. Aside from the few genetic anomalies (Schwarzenegger, Columbu and Haney come to mind here), such high training frequencies lead to burnout and overtraining in most exercisers. Why are the genetically average not successful with such programs? You know what programs I'm talking about - we all know them. I'm talking about the programs you find in bodybuilding magazines that copy the programs of professional bodybuilders (although it remains to be seen if these pros have ever trained in such a way). The average novice exerciser tears open these magazines and gets as excited as a schoolgirl when they read the programs. "This is what's going to make me muscular and strong," he thinks. But it didn't work - it absolutely didn't work. Why?

Why the average exerciser can't train like Arnold

1) An excessive initial shock to the system

If you've been training each muscle group a few times a week with 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps, then starting to destroy your muscles for six workouts a week will end in disaster. Even though our skeletal muscle system is amazingly adaptable, we don't respond particularly well to such a huge simultaneous boost in volume and intensity.

Murderous levels of muscle soreness and exhaustion are sure to follow. Such a technique will often leave you wishing the Weider guys had never knocked on your door with their swanky pictures of Muscle Beach.

Bottom line: you need to build your capacity to withstand high-frequency training sessions.

2) Unchanging parameters

It's no surprise that these traditional competitive bodybuilding parameters have never worked for the average trainee, which is especially true when you consider the lack of variance in their training parameters. Often these bodybuilders perform six barbell bench press workouts during a week. This is not good. The central nervous system and skeletal muscle system respond well to varying levels of intensity and volume.

In fact, it's fairly safe to say that our enormous activity variance over the course of evolution is responsible for this. While we have adapted to chopping down a tree one day, running 15 kilometers the next, and running away from predators on the third, we are not designed to chop down trees three days in a row. Our bodies like constant change. For this reason, anyone who wants to train at a high frequency should keep this evolutionary fact in mind.

Conclusion: You need to continuously vary your training parameters (sets, reps, load parameters, rest intervals and exercises) throughout the week to prevent burnout.

3) Excessive training intensity

You can't train at grueling intensity levels over a long period of time. Your nervous system is simply not capable of withstanding this level of stress. Why? Who knows for sure, but my guess is that once again it has something to do with our evolutionary requirements. Do you think our ancestors were screaming with effort and intensity on a daily basis? I would doubt this.

Instead, it's more likely that they only got into these high-intensity, high-stress situations on an irregular basis. Therefore, if you are training at a tremendously high intensity on an almost daily basis, you can assume that you are training in a way that your nervous and muscular systems are not well suited for - especially in the long term. Research conducted both in the lab and in the weight room shows that our bodies are more efficient at recovering from a wide variance of training intensities than they are at exclusively high intensities.

Bottom line: limit the amount of high-intensity training during each microcycle (i.e. avoid going to muscle failure with heavy weights continuously).

4) A lack of recovery modalities

If modern hypertrophy training information has an advantage over old school methods, it's most evident in recovery modalities. Many old school bodybuilders did nothing more than down a few beers and chow down on a few birds to recover from their workouts. Why such a crappy post-workout ceremony? Because their genetic predispositions negated any need to do anything else.

We are lucky. Today, we have a tremendous amount of recovery aids - both nutritional and therapeutic. In fact, things like active recovery training sessions, stretching, salt baths, electrostimulation, etc. will speed up your recovery enormously. When you take into account the high quality protein powders, recovery drinks, creatine and an increasing nutritional knowledge, it's easy to see that we are definitely better off than our predecessors (at least in the area of recovery).

Conclusion: Both nutritional and therapeutic modalities are important for recovery during high frequency training. The above points help explain why traditional, high frequency bodybuilding programs have not been effective for most exercisers. But that's not the end of the story. There are a number of other obstacles that need to be overcome in order for virtually anyone to reap the benefits of high frequency training.

Observations related to high frequency training

I have found that a well-constructed, high-frequency training plan is the most efficient way to maximize hypertrophy. I developed this maxim based on my personal observations - my work with exercisers at every level of the fitness spectrum and a comprehensive review of the evolution of hypertrophy training based on scientific research of skeletal muscle. In fact, the latissimus of Olympic gymnasts, the thighs of speed skaters, the calves of soccer players, the upper back of lumberjacks and the thighs of mechanics have effectively demonstrated that the key to accelerated hypertrophy lies in high-frequency training plans. In case you didn't understand my examples, it's worth noting that all of the people mentioned above train the muscles in question at a very high frequency - a frequency that few trainers and authors dare to recommend.

What does this mean for us? We have found that the old bodybuilding magazines have led us astray by publishing programs that were often excessive and poorly put together. In addition, the issues of genetics and pharmaceutical support have played an important role. Those who weren't blessed with a superior gene pool (or those who weren't sitting at the source when it came to steroids) ended up with plenty of room in their shirtsleeves. So how do we develop a high-frequency training plan that actually works for exercisers from all walks of life?

The answer is obvious when we consider the superior muscle development of the aforementioned gymnasts, speed skaters, etc. These people all have the following in common regarding the muscles mentioned:

1. they have developed their capacity to endure high-frequency training by training through muscle soreness.
2. they do not reach high levels of intensity (training to muscle failure) on a regular basis
3. their high frequency training is limited to a few specific body parts.
4. your volume patterns are constantly changing.

All four of these examples are important, but I would go so far as to say that point 4 is the most important. The fact that these people perform an amazing amount of movement patterns that are rarely repeated is probably the reason they are able to train at such a high frequency. And it is probably also the reason that the hypertrophy of the trained muscle group is greater in these individuals. Let's take the soccer player as an example. Imagine a two-hour training session for a soccer player. How many different movements/contraction patterns does he perform during the two hours of training that consists of running around the pitch? Heck, I don't know either, but I can tell you it's a huge amount.

Let's say the next training day consists of another training session. That two hour training session will undoubtedly consist of different movement patterns, different intensity levels and a different overall volume. Thus, it is much harder for a soccer player to burn out on a specific movement pattern than it is for a bodybuilder using an exercise like calf raises. Each machine will require a movement pattern that is relatively fixed.

Any time you're dealing with a fixed or pseudo-fixed movement pattern, overuse injuries aren't far away - and that's not good for hypertrophy. Combine this with the fact that running, jumping, stopping and sprinting require many different contraction schemes, levels of motor unit recruitment and specific muscle recruitments.

Variations in movements are key

Okay, so what does this mean for someone trying to build bigger pecs? It means that you should make a conscientious effort to use as many different chest muscle exercises as possible. Simply performing six flat bench press workouts per week is a poor approach to high-frequency training. Such a relatively constant movement pattern will induce a stimulus that includes too little variety to prevent burnout and overuse injuries. Instead, you should strive to create your own exercises that are different from traditional exercises. This is exactly what I have done with my clients and it is the reason my clients have achieved their goals. How would I go about this?

Here's an example that illustrates what I'm talking about. Let's say you're standing between the pulley towers of a cable machine for crossover cable pulls. The top pulleys of the cable pulls are at the highest position and you grab the handles with your arms outstretched and palms facing down. Then pull the handles down in front of you with your arms relatively straight (almost fully extended) so that your hands are about 5 centimetres away from your upper thighs at the lowest point of the movement.

Move your arms back to the starting position and pull the handles down so that your hands are 7 centimeters away from your thighs at the lowest point of the movement. Move your arms back to the starting position and pull the handles down so that your hands are now 10 centimetres away from your upper thighs at the lowest point of the movement. Continue this technique until your hands are in a position at the end of the movement where you no longer feel any tension in your chest muscles. You should be able to get at least ten different movement patterns out of this exercise!

Then place the pulleys of the cable pulley at the lowest position. Grasp the handles and place your arms in the same crucifix position as in the previous exercise. Pull your arms together overhead with palms facing up and elbows slightly bent so that your hands end up in a position that forms approximately a 75 degree angle relative to the floor. Move your hands back to the starting position and pull your arms together again, with your hands now ending in a position where they form about a 70 degree angle relative to the floor (even less would be better).

Continue this exercise until you no longer feel any tension in your chest muscles. Again, you should be able to get at least ten different contraction patterns out of the exercise.

With these two crossover cable pulls alone, you already have 20 different contraction patterns - that's 20 different chest exercises from this simple exercise alone. Now do you see what I mean when I say that a little ingenuity will go a long way? Even though each phase of the chest adduction is similar, the variance is enough to present a slightly different stimulus to the muscle. That's the path to success with high frequency training and that's the most complicated part of all (i.e. sufficient variations in movement patterns).

Note: The "cross over cable pulls" example was not meant to imply that such an exercise is all that is necessary for pec hypertrophy, nor was it meant to be considered a "new exercise". It was merely meant to serve as an example of how many different movement patterns can be achieved with one simple exercise.

And what about biomechanics?

Most exercisers would say that the line of resistance (the cable) should match the arrangement of the muscle fibers. Therefore, a cynical graduate of biomechanics would say that only a few of the ten different movements are accurately aligned with the muscle fiber orientation of the pecs.

Even if it is true that aligning the line of resistance with the direction of pull of the muscle fibers will recruit the most muscle fibers, this is not necessary if you are training on a high frequency training plan. In fact, this should be avoided.

Changes in movement patterns are absolutely necessary for the highest possible rate of hypertrophy. Remember the example of the soccer player. For how many of the repetitions (steps) does the resistance perfectly match the contraction pattern of the calf muscles? The only way to perfectly align the movement with this would be to stand up straight and push your entire body weight straight up. It is quite obvious that this will not be the case most of the time during a soccer match.

In other words, the key to reaching a new level of hypertrophy is to train at a high frequency on a weekly basis. If you limit your exercise selection to the few movements that are perfectly aligned with the direction of pull of your muscles, then you will invite overuse injuries and localized muscle overtraining.

High-frequency training and you

Up to this point, I've only focused on the four elements that have helped soccer players, gymnasts, speed skaters and mechanics achieve muscle-specific hypertrophy using high-frequency training. I have focused on "variations in movement patterns" because I believe this is the primary solution to this puzzle. Even if an exerciser were to use a relatively constant intensity (load) on each exercise, the variance of movements alone should probably allow for hypertrophy gains from high frequency training. Some of you will probably already have a pretty clear idea of my vision for the future of hypertrophy training. I would recommend everyone to start with my Perfect 10 program for lagging muscle groups first and then think about unconventional ways to train underdeveloped muscle groups. Hang some gymnastic rings in your garage to build your latissimus, use daily rope climbing to build your biceps and forearms or do a soccer workout to develop your calves.

If you do any of these, you'll be well prepared to reap the benefits of my future programs, Now get to work!

By Chad Waterbury
Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/high-frequency-secret

Training for beginners

Part 1

We live in a strange society. On the one hand, the idea of being lean and muscular has never been as desirable as it is today. It wasn't long ago that a muscular man or woman was considered some kind of freak, but now this kind of body development has become an ideal. We admire our idols from actors to athletes for their hard, defined and muscular bodies.

On the other hand, society has never been more out of shape. Obesity and all its associated health problems are rampant and you don't have to look far to see this.

So it probably shouldn't surprise us that more and more people are turning to training with weights, diets and nutritional supplements to improve the way they look and feel. Physical training can be very rewarding when done correctly, which is especially true when combined with proper nutrition and an optimal supplement protocol. It's rewarding because it can drastically change the way you look, the way others perceive you and the way you see yourself. Believe me, I speak from experience here.

I used to be quite a chubby guy. Sure, I was strong, but I made the Michelin Man look slim. I'm not ashamed to admit that between 1994 and 2001, I went on just three dates where I didn't even get close to first base.

But that was then.

In 2001, something happened that changed my life. I went through a complete metamorphosis through hard training, proper nutrition and precise supplementation that took me from a flabby 110 kilos to a hard and muscular 93 kilos with an 8% body fat percentage.

It was then that I noticed a strange phenomenon: women actually wanted to have something to do with me.

And not just one or two. We're talking about tons of women here. In the supermarket, at the swimming pool, in bars, everywhere. Without really meaning to (well, maybe a little), I had turned into a chick magnet. I call this a strange phenomenon, because apart from my new body development, I was still exactly the same person as before.

My professional life as a trainer also changed. Whereas I used to struggle to have two or three clients a week, I now had to turn people away because I was so fully booked. The change in my appearance had completely changed my life in every way.

Yes, the right combination of training, nutrition and supplementation can be extremely effective. Sadly, however, most people who want to enter the wonderful world of training with weights have no idea where to start. They don't even know the terminology, let alone the methods. In desperation, they might hire a personal trainer, but I'm sorry to tell you that most "trainers" out there aren't worth a penny.

What's a beginner to do then?

For starters, read this series of articles. It consists of three sections and presents the basic information that all beginners to iron sports need to know. Section I deals with the training aspect and sections II and III will deal with nutrition and supplementation. If you are just taking your first steps in this wonderful world of body transformation, this series of articles will help save you months, if not years, of wasted time and frustration.

Without wasting another minute, let's start with what matters.

A little dictionary of weight training terms

Nothing screams "beginner" louder than not knowing the jargon of weight training. To be fair, I should mention that I've met numerous supposedly advanced individuals who were also confused about the correct terminology. Here's a collection of the key terms you'll need in your pursuit of muscle, so you have no excuse for not knowing what you're talking about.

Repetitions

A repetition is the action of performing a complete movement of an exercise once. If we use the bench press as an example, then a complete movement means lowering the weight to the chest from an extended-arm position and then moving the weight back to the starting position.

Each repetition usually involves two separate phases:

The concentric phase

The first phase is the phase during which you actively move the weight upwards and during which the muscles involved contract or shorten. This phase is referred to as the concentric or positive phase of the movement.

The eccentric phase

The second phase is the phase during which you resist the weight and move it back to the starting position of the concentric phase. This is the phase during which the muscles involved lengthen and is referred to as the eccentric or negative phase of the movement.

At this point it should be noted that for most exercises you will be stronger during the eccentric phase than during the concentric phase.

Some people think of the concentric phase as lifting the bar and the eccentric phase as lowering the bar, but this is not always the case, as a look at the lat pulldown movement shows. In this exercise, you move the bar down during the concentric phase.

Just remember the following:

• Concentric phase = the muscles contract
• Eccentric phase = the muscles lengthen

Set

A set is the execution of a series of repetitions without significant rest between repetitions. For example, if you perform a set of 10 repetitions in the bench press, this means that you lower the bar ten times in succession and then push it back up again. As soon as you have completed all repetitions of a set, you put the weight back on the rack.

When you write down a training program, you write down the number of sets of repetitions together - first the sets and then the repetitions. For example, 3 x 10 means that you do 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Take a break between sets.

Repetition range

You will not always see a precise number of repetitions in a training program. More often, a repetition range is given instead. This is a range, usually 2 to 4 repetitions, in which the training effect is almost the same.

A repetition range allows you more leeway. Let's say a program specifies 10 repetitions, but you can only do 7 repetitions. Do you consider this set a failure or do you count it? What if after 10 repetitions you have the feeling that you could do one or two more repetitions? Do you stop at 10 repetitions or do you keep going? Rather than having to worry about this, I prefer to specify a repetition range rather than a specific number of repetitions. Which repetition range to use depends on the type of gains you are looking for (single repetitions, i.e. sets of 1 repetition, are a special case here):

• 2-3: Strength with small mass gains
• 4-5: Strength and mass gains, but more strength than mass
• 6-8: Strength and mass gains, to almost the same extent
• 9-12: Force and mass gains, but more mass than force
• 13-15: Mass gains and a few gains in muscle endurance
• 16-20: Gains in muscle endurance and a few gains in mass

Rest intervals

This point is quite straightforward: the rest intervals refer to the time you rest between sets of an exercise or between different exercises.

Tempo

Tempo, also known as 'repetition speed', refers to the way in which an exercise is performed. Some coaches go into great detail about the tempo of an exercise, while others don't talk about tempo at all. Here are some examples of how training tempo can be specified:

Ultra precise

In this method, each repetition is divided into four phases. There are the two that we have already described (eccentric and concentric), but also two other phases that describe the time for the transition between the two main phases of the movement. These four phases are each assigned a number that indicates the length of this phase in seconds.

1. The first number in the series is always the length (in seconds) of the eccentric phase (which does not necessarily represent the first part of the movement).
2. The second number describes the time for the transition from eccentric to concentric phase.
3. The third number indicates the length of the concentric phase of the movement.
4. The fourth number represents the time between the end of the concentric phase and the beginning of the eccentric phase of the next repetition.

Let's look at a 3-0-2-1 tempo for Scott curls. You perform the eccentric phase in three seconds (3). When you reach the lowest point of the movement, you do not pause (0) but immediately move on to the concentric phase, during which you move the bar upwards within 2 seconds. At the top of the movement, consciously tense the muscles hard for a second before lowering the weight again.

Remember that the numbers do not necessarily describe the order in which the phases of the movement are performed.

Very precise

This method is only slightly less precise than "ultra" precise and uses only three numbers instead of four. It only specifies the eccentric phase (first number), the concentric phase (third number) and the transition between eccentric and concentric phase (second number). The time between repetitions is not specified.

Precise

In the third method, not even the transition phase is specified, but only the length of the eccentric phase (first number) and concentric phase (second number). For example, 3-1 means that you perform the eccentric phase of the repetition in 3 seconds and the concentric phase in one second.

Note: In the first three methods of quantifying tempo, you will sometimes see an 'x' instead of a number. This means "eXplosive" or "as fast as you can."

Qualitative

This approach, used by many coaches, does not include a specific number of seconds for each phase. Instead, a qualitative description is used for each phase, e.g:

• "Lower the weight slowly and in a controlled manner, consciously tensing the muscles."
• "Control the weight on the way down and move it up explosively."
• Perform both phases of the movement slowly and concentrate on keeping your muscles under tension."

Not specified

And then there's this approach used by some trainers who say nothing at all about tempo.

Which approach is best? That depends entirely on the situation: each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages,

The first two methods (ultra and very precise) are useful for someone who fakes or uses poor form. If you have a habit of bouncing the bar off your chest in order to move a few more pounds on the bench press, then following strict tempo guidelines will help you break this habit. For most others, however, these precise methods often reduce the quality of the set. If you focus entirely on counting the seconds, you won't be able to concentrate on the movement and develop maximum strength.

As a rule of thumb, the more experienced you become, the more you should move to a qualitative indication of tempo.

Supersets

This is one of the first intensity methods that beginners learn when they start training seriously with weights. This doesn't necessarily mean it's the best intensity method, just the most popular. Unfortunately, most people use supersets in a wrong way, combining exercises together without thinking about the logic behind the exercise pairing. But we're getting too far ahead of ourselves. First, let's talk about what supersets actually are.

A superset is performing two exercises back-to-back without resting between the exercises (you do rest after the second exercise though). There are different types of supersets.

Pre-fatigue

This refers to a pairing of two exercises for the same muscle group. The first exercise is an isolation exercise (exercises where the target muscle does most of the work alone) and the second exercise is a multi-joint exercise. An example of a superset with pre-fatigue for the chest would be performing a set of flying movements with dumbbells immediately followed by a set of bench presses. The underlying logic here is that the target muscle does not work alone in a multi-joint exercise and therefore may not be fully stimulated at the end of the set.

By pre-fatiguing the target muscle, we increase the likelihood that it will be fully stimulated. For beginners, pre-fatigue is also a good way to learn to feel the target muscle during a multi-joint exercise. For example, many people find it difficult to feel their chest muscles working during the bench press. After pre-fatiguing the chest with an isolation exercise, you will feel the pecs more during the bench press, which will help teach you how to focus on that muscle. The downside of this method is that you won't be able to use as much weight as usual on the multi-joint exercise, which is also the more effective mass building exercise of the two.

Post-fatigue

This approach is quite similar to the pre-fatigue approach, but the order of the exercises is reversed. You start with the multi-joint exercise and then perform the isolation exercise. This allows you to fully stimulate the target muscle and does not affect the amount of weight you can use in the basic exercise.

Supersets with basic exercises

This is the type of superset I like the least and rarely use. It consists of a pairing of two multi-joint exercises for the same muscle group (e.g. bench press and dips). The problem with this approach is that it doesn't help you focus on the target muscle group.

In the case of bench presses and dips, if your triceps are stronger than your pecs, they will do most of the work in both exercises and your chest may still not be maximally stimulated at the end of the superset. The only advantage of supersets with basic exercises is that you can train more than one part of the muscle in the same set. However, this can be better achieved with isolation exercises.

Supersets with isolation exercises

This refers to a pairing of two isolation exercises for the same muscle group. The purpose of this approach is to focus on multiple parts of the muscle during a set. This is where it gets a little tricky: for this technique to work, you need to choose exercises that work different parts of the target muscle. If you choose two exercises that target the same area, you won't be able to reap the full benefits of this technique.

Antagonistic supersets

In this method, you pair two exercises for opposite (antagonistic) muscles. As with other supersets, you do not pause between the first and second exercise. This approach allows you to combine these muscles:

• Chest and back
• Biceps and triceps
• Quadriceps and hamstrings
• Lateral/front shoulder muscles and rear shoulder muscles
• Abdominals and lower back

Triple sets

This technique is similar to supersets, but instead of two exercises, you perform three exercises in succession without rest. This is obviously a very demanding method that should not be abused, especially for beginners and/or people with a low work capacity.

As with supersets, there are several alternatives for triple sets. Here are some of them:

Pre- and post-fatigue

In this method, you start with an isolation exercise, followed by a multi-joint exercise and then another isolation exercise. An example for the chest could look like this:

A1. Flying movements with dumbbells: 8-10 repetitions
A2. Bench press on reverse incline bench: 6-8 repetitions
A3. Crossover cable pull-ups: 10-12 repetitions

Holistic triple sets

This approach was first popularized by Dr. Fred Hatfield in the late 1980s. It involves performing a multi-joint exercise with heavy weight and a low repetition count, followed by a support exercise in a medium repetition range (8 to 12 repetitions), after which an isolation exercise with a high repetition count (between 20 and 40 repetitions) is finally performed. An example of this could look like this:

A1. Bench press 4-6 repetitions
A2. Dumbbell incline bench press 8-10 repetitions
A3. Crossover cable pull-ups 30 repetitions

Other examples would include triple sets of three isolation exercises that train three different parts of a muscle or use different movement patterns/angles.

Advanced sets

Descending sets are part of a category of training methods known as "advanced sets". Advanced sets mean that after you reach a point where you can't move the weight one more time using proper technique, you find a way to do more work. This is usually achieved by reducing the weight (descending sets) or taking a short break before performing further repetitions (rest/pause or cluster sets).

When you perform an exercise as a descending set, you are basically completing a set number of repetitions with a given weight. At the end of the "first" set, you reduce the weight slightly and then immediately perform further repetitions with the reduced weight.

Here is an example: You are able to perform 6 repetitions of dumbbell bench presses with 50 pound dumbbells. After 6 repetitions, you reduce the weight to 40 pounds of dumbbells and perform 3 to 4 more repetitions.

You can also perform double descending sets or even triple descending sets where you reduce the weight twice or three times. However, I would like to reiterate that this is a very strenuous method that should not be abused.

Rest/pause sets

Rest/pause sets are similar to descending sets in that you continue to perform repetitions even after reaching the point of muscle failure. With this method, however, you do not reduce the weight, but instead pause for 7 to 12 seconds before continuing the set with the same weight. So you could perform 8 repetitions with 100 kilos on the bench press, put the weight down, pause for 10 seconds and then perform 2 to 3 more repetitions.

Cluster sets

Cluster sets are similar to rest/pause sets, but with cluster sets you pause for 7 to 17 seconds between each repetition. A cluster set consisting of 5 repetitions would look like this:

1 repetition, 10 second rest, 1 repetition, 10 second rest, 1 repetition, 10 second rest, 1 repetition, 10 second rest, 1 repetition, end of set.

Since you pause after each repetition, you can obviously use a lot more weight than when performing regular sets with the same number of repetitions.

Burns

Burns are partial repetitions (half repetitions) performed at the end of a regular set. For example, you could perform 10 full repetitions of dumbbell curls and perform 5 to 6 partial repetitions over the top half of the range of motion at the end of the set.

Muscle failure

Muscle failure is the point at which you can no longer perform another repetition with a given weight in good form. In other words, you reach the point of muscle failure when you are no longer able to perform another repetition without the help of a training partner or by bending or using poor form.

Muscle failure can occur due to a variety of factors, including complete fatigue of the muscle fibers (rare), an accumulation of metabolic products (lactate, hydrogen ions) in the muscle that makes hard contractions impossible, and exhaustion of the nervous system (which makes muscle fiber recruitment more difficult).

Intensity

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the term intensity in relation to training. In the field of weight training, intensity does not refer to a subjective value, but to an objective variable: the amount of weight you use compared to your capacity.

The heavier the weight compared to what you can move, the higher the intensity of an exercise. For example, if you are able to perform a maximum of one repetition on the bench press with 100 kilos (your maximum weight for one repetition or 1 RM weight), then performing 5 repetitions with 85 kilos (85%) is more intense than performing a set of 10 repetitions with 70 kilos (70%), even if the latter may feel more painful and harder.

Volume

Volume refers to the total amount of work you do during a training session. Technically, volume is the number of repetitions times the weight used times the number of sets. For example, if you perform 5 sets of 10 repetitions with 100 kilos of an exercise, then your volume is 5,000 kilos.

In bodybuilding circles, volume usually refers to the number of sets per muscle group. Less than 6 sets per muscle group is referred to as low volume, 6 to 9 sets as moderate volume, 10 to 16 sets as average volume, 17 to 20 sets as high volume and over 20 sets as very high volume.

This is obviously not an all-encompassing glossary of terms or techniques used in strength training, but it will allow you to understand the basics and should help you on your way.

Put your money where your mouth is!

Even a 1000 kilometer journey starts with a single step and if you follow these nine steps, your journey will be much smoother:

1. set realistic goals

Beginners need to realize how important it is to set realistic goals. Some people actually think that after a few months of training they will look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. If their gains then fall far short of their expectations, they often stop training altogether.

Muscle building is a slow process. Even though a beginner can build muscle faster than an advanced strength athlete, they will rarely be able to build more than 2 to 3 pounds of solid muscle mass per month. When you start training, it's realistic to expect muscle gains of 15 to 20 pounds (which is a lot) during your first year of training, but that's only if you do everything right. So don't panic and stop training (and don't resort to steroids) just because you don't gain 20 pounds of muscle in 8 weeks.

2. there is no magic program

The key to progress is the amount of effort you put into your training program and progression. Hard work and the drive to progress in some way with every single training session is the real secret to muscle growth and strength gains - not some innovative program.

3. progression

This goes back to the principle of effort. The real secret to building muscle and strength is progression. You need to continually challenge your body and find ways to progressively ask more of it. If you do the same thing over and over again, you won't look any different in a month, a year or ten years from now. Progression is the name of the game - not the program design, training pace or other small details. Find a way to progress and you will build strength and muscle.

There is more than one way to achieve progression. What we are looking for are ways to make our bodies work harder. That's progression and that's what will lead to growth. Here are a few ways to make your body work harder:

Increase the load

You can challenge your body by increasing the weight on the bar and doing the same number of reps per set. For example, if you did 10 reps of 100 kilos on the bench press last week and this week you're putting 102.5 kilos on the bar, you're forcing your body to work harder.

Obviously, this method of progression has its limits: You can't increase the weight on the bar every week and expect your body to adapt to this. You would increase your bench press weight by over 100 kilos every year if you could put 2.5 kilos more on the bar every week. Unfortunately, this is not possible.

Increase the number of repetitions

Another way to make your body work harder is to perform more repetitions per set with the same weight. For example, if you did 10 repetitions with 100 kilos last week and this week you do 12 repetitions with the same weight, then you have achieved progression. However, just as with the previous method, you cannot perform more repetitions every week.

Increase the training density

You can also achieve progression by increasing the amount of work you complete within a given unit of time. This refers to reducing the rest intervals between sets while using the same weight (or at least without reducing the weight too much). By reducing the rest periods, your body is forced to work harder and recruit more muscle fibers due to the phenomenon of cumulative fatigue.

Increase the training volume

This is probably the easiest progression method. If you want your body to do more work, then train more! This means doing extra sets for each muscle group. For example, you could do 9 work sets for one muscle group during one week and increase the number of sets to 12 in week 2 and 14 in week three. Although this can work, it should not be abused as it can lead to overtraining. Most exercisers should not perform more than 12 total sets per muscle group for 90% of the time.

Use intensity techniques

The occasional use of methods such as descending sets, rest/pause sets, contrasting tempo, isodynamic contrasts, supersets and compound sets is another way to make your body work harder. Again, this method should not be abused as it places an enormous strain on the muscular and nervous system.

Use more demanding exercises

If you are used to doing all your training on machines, switch to free weights. You will force your body to work harder because you have to stabilize the weight. If you only use isolation exercises and start incorporating multi-joint exercises into your program, you will make your body work harder due to the intermuscular coordination factor.

Produce more tension in the target muscle group

It's one thing to move the weight and another thing to move it correctly to build muscle mass. As I often say, when you train to build muscle, you're not just moving the weight, you're contracting your muscles against resistance. You can improve the quality of your sets and therefore make your body work harder by trying to contract the target muscle as hard as possible for the entire duration of each repetition.

Increase the time under tension by lowering the weight in a controlled manner

I'm not a big fan of precise tempo recommendations as I feel they can detract from training concentration. However, I also recognize that more hypertrophy can be stimulated by keeping a muscle under constant tension for a longer period of time. The best way to achieve this without using less weight is to lower the weight more slowly and continue to focus on tensing the muscles as hard as possible all the time.

Increase the average weight used in an exercise

This method is quite similar to the first method, although increasing the weight here refers to moving more weight on average on an exercise rather than increasing the weight on your maximum set. For example, let's say you perform 4 sets of 10 reps on the bench press:

Week 1:

Set 1: 200 pounds x 10 (2000 pounds)
Set 2: 210 pounds x 10 (2100 pounds)
Set 3: 220 pounds x 10 (2200 pounds)
Set 4: 225 pounds x 10 (2250 pounds)
Total weight moved = 8550 pounds
Average weight per set = 2137 pounds
Average weight per repetition = 213.7 pounds (214 pounds)

Week 2:

Set 1: 210 pounds x 10 (2100 pounds)
Set 2: 215 pounds x 10 (2150 pounds)
Set 3: 225 pounds x 10 (2250 pounds)
Set 4: 225 pounds x 10 (2250 pounds)
Total weight moved = 8750 pounds
Average weight per set = 2187 pounds
Average weight per repetition = 218.7 pounds (219 pounds)

As you can see, even though the max weight was the same for both workouts, you moved an average of 5 pounds more during week 2. That's progression!

These are just a few ways to achieve progression. You don't have to use all of these methods at once, but knowing that each of these methods is a progression will allow you to continually challenge your body. Can't move more weight today? No problem, use one of the other eight methods.

Progression is the key. Find a way to increase each week and you're sure to grow.

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/training-for-newbies-1