It’s come to my attention that there’s an offensive lack of quality arm training information being written on the internet of late (either that or I’m living under a rock, and too busy actually training arms to see it). As a tried and true meathead, this apparent black of hole of useful arm training tactics cannot be allowed to persist.
Neither can the pandemic of scraggly-armed lifters who claim to call their gym “a second home.”
Furthermore, it befuddles me as to why this drought of arm training knowledge has occurred.
Perhaps it’s because nobody wants to admit that it be bigger arms they crave. In today’s ‘safe space society,’ straying from the norm seems to be frowned upon. And these days, jacked arms are definitely well above the median.
(There’s no shame in wanting to stretch the limits of your shirt sleeves).
Perhaps few see the *value* in having big arms.
(Cry me a river, you can’t open your jar of pickles without big arms – this is a fact).
Perhaps many just don’t want to put in the reps.
(Rightfully so, I suppose. But if that’s the case, why bother lifting at all?)
Whatever the case may be, enough is enough.
So, gather round, comrades.
Arm training ‘O MASS is in session. Prepare to learn why you should be training your arms 3-4 times per week, and trying to squeeze as much growth out of them as possible.
At the end of the day, who doesn’t want bigger arms that stretch the sleeves of their shirts and command attention left, right, and centre?
Nobody in their right mind, that’s who.
More:
There’s a whole new realm of confidence that you enter when you know that you’ve a thick, strong pair of arms that put every other set of pipes around you to shame.
Not to mention, there are real life (yes, real life!) health benefits to having big arms that can snap necks, and write cheques. Because it just so happens that well-developed arms are a strong indicator of good health and longevity.
Finally, one more thing before we get into the curls and pressdowns of this article: Nobody ever complained about having arms that are too big.
So let’s go.
Tap Into The Power Of High Frequency Arm Training For Greater Gains
If you’re like many lifters, your arm training consists of one entirely-too-long-with-no-intensity session on Friday afternoons, and perhaps some token sets tacked onto the end of your chest and/or back day. Which is all well and good if you’re content with the current state of your arms.
But, something tells me that you aren’t.
Simply put, that’s not going to do the trick if you’re chasing a pair of pythons. Which means one thing, and one thing only.
It’s time to jack up your arm training frequency.
Repeated training exposures have been shown to generate greater results over the same amount of volume condensed into singular sessions when expanded out over weeks. Theoretically, this means that as long as you cap your volume somewhere between the 10-14 set range (for both triceps and biceps), you could train your arms every other day, and blow them (and your sleeves) up.
But, to train your arms with such frequency, you must take a few things into conisderation, as you need to train them in a certain manner. Lest your joints become angry and revolt like a horde of angry meatheads being denied their post-workout protein shakes and bowls of rice (guilty).
Aspiring wrangler of pythons, read on for how you can set up said high frequency arm assault, and level up your arm game.
Talk about a python wrangler
High Frequency Arm Training Tactics
Like I said, if you’re gonna train your arms an obscene amount each week, you need to make sure you do it right. Otherwise, this scheme for arm growth will blow up in your face. Leaving you to deal with cranky joints at best, and tendinitis at worst (trust me, I did it very, very wrong way back in the way back).
So, here’s how to create an arm session that doesn’t beat you down, and that you can repeat multiple times per week.
- Your Loads Matters
First and foremost, consider the following:
You’re best served to primarily use moderate to light weights. For what’s gotta be the 4th time by now, if you’re going to train arms this much, you won’t (and shouldn’t) be blasting them with heavy curls or pressdowns. Honestly, that’s not a good recipe for arm growth, even at the best of times.
Keep your intensity sky-high, but tone down your per session volume. I mean, you are training pipes multiple times per week. You don’t need to assault them like a classic volume whore each time.
Plus:
If you keep the session fast-paced and sprinkled with intensity techniques, you will flood your arms with blood, drive nutrient uptake, and help spare your joints from taking a pervasive beating.
- The Role Of Intensity Techniques
Since we’re talking intensity techniques, I’d be remiss to not mention my favourite ones to add some sizzle and spice to your arm sessions.
Here goes:
Drop-sets.
Intra-set stretches.
Isometric holds.
Those 3 are my bread and butter for upping the intensity of arm day.
And while isometric contractions are on the brain, I strongly suggest starting each session with a few rounds of isometric contractions for both triceps and biceps. Super simple, straightforward, and effective. Using very light or no weight, simply flex your bicep or tricep, squeeze as hard as you can, and hold for 10-15s. This is a great way to improve mind-muscle connection, as well as start blood flow to your arms. Do one arm at a time, alternating back and forth.
- You’re gonna want to avoid these.
There’s little that can take a more brutal toll on your precious joints, tendons, and ligaments, than heavy, poorly executed preacher and barbell curls. Given that these exercises are very easy to pile on the load and hit up ‘Swing City,’ it’s also a quick, painful path to a world of joint hurt.
Simply put, don’t do this.
- You can’t do this forever.
No matter how invincible you feel, how thrilled you are with the growth, or ecstatic with all the new attention your arms are now drawing, you can’t train them with this frequency forever.
For starters, you’ll end up with arms that vastly overpower the rest of your body. Which makes for a pretty fucked up physique that doesn’t look great on anybody.
No matter what you do in terms of preventive maintenance for your joints, a volume of arm work like this will catch up to you at some point, and it’s a slippery, downhill slope to bathing in fish oil from that point onward.
My suggestion?
Cap your high frequency arm blast somewhere between 6-8 weeks, then shift them back to your usual 1-1.5 sessions per week while you repeat the same process on a different body part.
This, my friend, is a great way to attain continual progression.
This man knew a thing or two about continual progression. Even if it was purely intuitive.
Sample High Frequency Arm Training Session
Finally, there’s only one way to truly understand how to structure and execute an arm session in this manner.
And that’s to take an expertly designed one for spin, and see how it feels to wash your hair the next day.S
The session below is a well-suited high frequency arm session that I’ve been mixing into my regular training days of late. It’s joint friendly, fast paced, and will surely blow up your arms.
Go get’em, Tiger.
A1. Cable or Machine Curls 3×10-15
Do a couple sets of 15-20 before starting the working sets. Curl up high towards your forehead and flex in the contracted position for 1s on each rep. Be strict with your form and ensure that you’re using only your biceps as you initiate each curl. Rest 45-60s between sets.
B1. Incline DB Curls 4×10-12
Keep your elbows back behind you, and hands supinated at all times. Flex hard for 1s in the contracted position, and pump these out. Rest 60s between sets.
C1. Reverse Grip Cable Curls 3×15
You’re going to do 1 & 1/4 reps out of the bottom here. So, curl all the way up, lower, come up 1/4 of the way, back down. That’s 1 rep. Rest no more than 60s between sets. Your forearms should be flooded with blood at this point.
D1. Rope Pressdowns 4×15-20
Do these with a quick pumping tempo. Flex briefly in the contracted position, and don’t come to a full stretch. All of the blood flow. Rest 45-60s between sets.
E1. Seated Overhead Rope Extensions 4×10-15
Focus on getting deeper and deeper into the stretch on each rep. Pull the rope apart as you extend, but stop 3/4 of the way to lockout. Rest for 60s between sets.
F1. Kneeling Supinated Straight Bar Pressdowns 3×30
Kneel facing a cable stack with your palms facing up. Without pausing whatsoever, knock out 30 crisp reps. Rest as needed between sets.
About the Author
Alex is a short shorts enthusiast, espresso connoisseur, and budding master chef (certainly not your average meathead). When he's not training legs or learning how to better serve his clients, he can be found exploring how to further crush life, perfect his flair in the kitchen, or pull the perfect shot of espresso. He's recently polled 19 of the top muscle building minds for their best training tips. Click thru here to grab your copy of the prestigious Hypertrophy Handbook (it's free).
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