For Bigger Arms, Feel the Burn Relentless Pursuit

By Muscle Insider

In Muscle Chemistry Archive

February 10, 2023

6 min read

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For Bigger Arms, Feel the Burn

Relentless Pursuit

By IFBB Pro Josh Wade

Sponsored by ALLMAX

Q: I’ve been having trouble getting my arms to grow. I’m not sure if I should train them more frequently, or heavier? There is so much different information out there that it confuses me.

A: Everyone is different. Some people have muscle groups that grow incredibly fast or muscle groups that are so stubborn, it just takes time no matter what you do. Personally, my arms are long for being 5-foot-9 and have always been my slowest responding muscle group. I now feel that my arms match my body and are no longer a weak point, and I’ll tell you what has worked for me. I train arms twice a week with one day as a dedicated arm day, then I’ll add 8-12 sets of triceps after a muscle group three days later and the next day I’ll do the same with biceps to give them extra work plus also push extra nutrients in them to keep them fuller.

I always felt the best mind-muscle connection when keeping a three-second negative resistance on every rep. That creates such an incredible burn in the muscle that your mind has no choice but to feel the connection. I feel if a muscle is burning then it’s under constant tension. Also, that burn represents the anaerobic threshold which means you are forcing more blood into the muscle than can dissipate, which creates massive lactic acidosis and increases growth hormone as a response!

The second thing that works for me is that I almost always start my arm workouts with a superset to get a great pump. This also warms up the joints before I get into heavier or compound lifts. One thing to really pay attention to especially when doing triceps is that when you apply that negative resistance on every rep, after the first couple of sets when you straighten your arms and flex your triceps, they should feel like they want to cramp. That’s a good way to know you’re engaging them throughout the whole motion.

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You must remember that with arms, just trying to lift heavier repeatedly is a recipe for disaster. That’s why I do a lot of supersets to make the weight feel heavier and put more tension on the muscle. This makes the muscle work harder but with less strain on the tendons. Every time I train heavy on arms, I just end up with bad tendinitis which inhibits productive workouts due to pain. Keep your form tight and keep tension on the muscle.

Here is an example what an arm workout of mine might look like. Keep in mind that I apply a three-second negative on all reps on all of these exercises.

Bent-Bar Pushdowns: 5 x15-12

(Keep the bar close to your body both directions)

Superset with

Bent-Over Extensions: 5 x12

(Where you turn your back to the stack and bend over at the waist)

Close-Grip Bench Press

Lying Triceps Extensions: 4×12-10

Dips, Dip Machine OR Bench Dips: 4 x12 or failure

Palms-Up Dumbbell Curls: 5 x12-10

Superset with

Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 5 x12-10

(On the last set of both exercises, I’ll tack on 3-4 partials from the stretched position after reaching failure)

Wide EZ-Bar Curls: 4 x12-10

One-Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curls: 4 x12-10

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Can’t Please Everyone

Q: I just competed in my first show and was told to ask for the judge’s feedback. Did you ever ask the judges what you needed to place better?

A: The best thing you can do is look at pictures and see which areas you need to improve upon to be the most symmetrical you can possibly be. If you weren’t as conditioned as some of the other guys, then maybe you didn’t diet hard enough or long enough, and you shouldn’t need a judge to tell you that. I knew I needed to bring up my arms and I did; I needed more quad sweep to make my waist look narrower and I did that. I look at myself unbiased and see what will make me look better and more complete. That’s all I can do, and I did that! The rest was out of my hands. All you can do is be the best you can possibly be and that takes time.

As far as asking yes, I did, and I was told I wasn’t big enough and I understand that but that also just takes time. One time I was told I wasn’t hard enough when I was almost always the hardest guy in the show, so I stopped asking and just kept working! I had someone comment to me before that, “I think you get overlooked at times because nothing pops out and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean you are so even and although you are ripped to the bone and hard as nails it’s not enough to stand out to the judges. People say wow, look at his arms or look at his legs or look at his back, but don’t consider the whole package at times.”

I can see how that may be possible because even myself, when I looked at someone like Roelly Winklaar, my eyes were drawn to him because of his overall mass even if he’s not the sharpest onstage. I can see how the judges might see the same thing and even though I didn’t have that wow factor I did my best to be the best bodybuilder I possibly could. That’s the only thing you can control and you’ll never make everyone happy, so make sure you are doing it to make yourself happy with what you bring!

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