Discarding Tradition to Maximize Arm Training Gains

Michele Maroldo's legendary 'guns'

VIP writer Scott Abel discusses the myths and pitfalls of arm training, and using innervation training to make desired gains.

by Scott Abel

Seems no matter what gym you go to, in whatever part of the world, bodybuilders everywhere, amateur to pro to weekend warriors, are all obsessed with big arms development.  Just think of the nicknames we have for big arms; the pythons, the guns, the cannons, the pistols, the weapons.  I once saw a bodybuilder's bumper sticker in L.A. that said, "It's not how much the car's worth, it's the size of the gun hangin' out the window."  Yes, arms development has captured the imagination of bodybuilders everywhere.
 
Yet for many, training arms and achieving "big guns status" is a very frustrating thing in terms of results and process.  One reason for this is wrong thinking on the part of the trainee.  This thinking has been drummed into their heads over the years via traditionalism, and magazine articles that focus more on the "show" than the science of training protocol. 
 
Experience, and knowledge will go a long way to help overcome many of these "advice pitfalls" of the past that instead of helping "real people make real gains," keep them forever trying this or that training program with frustrating results. 
 
I have been in this game a long time and I know that often it is faulty advice and concentrating on the wrong things during training which end up producing zero results - regardless of how great the effort of the trainee, or even how sound the program may be on paper.  I developed the Innervation Training Methodology to get beyond traditional "descriptive" approaches to training, which may be faulty at best, and get down to the nuts and bolts of program application to produce the best "real world results" for those of us of the genetic average category.  In this article, the focus is on arm training.

INNERVATION TRAINING

Innervation Training as a methodology is a departure from normal training dogma to be sure.  The majority of the research for this system centers around research to do with the nervous system and how it affects muscles and muscle response and not so much just musculoskeletal research per se.  While this is the scientific explanation the truth is that Innervation Training generally and in the case of arms training in particular is a distinct departure from traditional training methods.  Let's just say Innervation Training is non conventional to say the least. 
 
In the case of arms training, Innervation training led me to create arms exercises most of you have never even seen or heard of before, and to discard more traditional exercises as a potential waste of time, for most of us, which I will explain below.
 
You see, the research about the nervous system and the way it influences muscles at work leads you down a different path, and in arms training two pieces of that research demand close attention, and illustrate why many of you may not be making any real gains in arms development by following traditional methods. 
 
When focusing on technique, the research is unequivocal on two points that must be explained.  They are 1. Excitation Thresholds and 2. Co-Contraction of antagonists:
 
EXCITATION THRESHOLDS

You see, certain muscles in very specific ranges and planes of motion get a message from the nervous system to recruit fibers, before other muscles that may be contributing to the same movement.  The lower the excitation threshold for motor units within a certain muscles movement pattern, the more it will be activated preferentially ahead of other contributing muscle fibers. Therefore other muscles that you are not even consciously "targeting" can and often will contribute to contraction in a given exercise, and more so if their excitation thresholds are lower for that exercise, in that specific range and plane of motion.
 
In the case of biceps and triceps this is very important because the muscles of the arms are usually used as levers in most coordinated sport activities etc.  Therefore often the range and plane of motion for a lot of what you think are arms exercises end up not being arms exercises.  The motor units making up the muscle fibers of the biceps and triceps tend to have higher excitation thresholds than other muscles that support them in contraction, like shoulders etc. making it difficult to achieve maximum overload in a lot of traditional arm movements like standing barbell curls for biceps and lying barbell extensions for triceps.
 
For both those exercises in those specific ranges and planes of motion neither the biceps nor the triceps will receive maximum overload because of generally higher excitation thresholds than other working muscles in those movements.  Now, there are ways around this, and they have to do entirely with technique.  If you want to get the most out of all of your arms movements for both triceps and biceps, make sure that only the radius, and ulna bones of your arms move during contraction.  These are the arms bones from your wrist to your elbow, and they should be the only bones moving during contraction of any arms exercises.
 
Always keep the humerus, the upper bone of the arms that runs from elbow to shoulder,  from moving during your arms exercises.  You can see how this would make it difficult to do either standing barbell curls or lying barbell extensions, so I say scrap both of those traditional arms movements, if you are currently employing them and not making gains.  If so, these exercises are just not for you for the above reasons.
 
If exercises are initiated by using other muscles as is likely with these arms movements, then there isn't that crucial eccentric loading and pre-stretch of the biceps and triceps muscles before contraction. This potentially negates a tremendous amount of affect from these movements for stubborn gainers.
 
CO-CONTRACTION OF ANTAGONISTS

Innervation Training also reveals a ton of research regarding the co-contraction of antagonist muscles, while muscles are at work.  The biceps and triceps are obviously antagonistic muscles, and the research shows that in most sports-related tasks the antagonists work to support each other.  In other words, while the biceps is in full stretch, the triceps contract to absorb some of the load and when the triceps is stretched the reverse is true. There is also functionally a relationship between force production and force reduction between antagonists. Sounds reasonable and what's the problem with that, you ask?
 
Well, plenty is wrong with that if your goal is maximum biceps and triceps development.

As I said above, Innervation Training research also reveals that a muscle stretched with resistance receives the maximum amount of overload (see Behm 1995, and many others).  This is exactly what you want for growth.
 
With biceps and triceps so closely acting together during arms training movements, the all important stretch of a muscle with resistance is often lost and therefore so is the growth/stimulation potential of most of your sets.  Remember bodypart targeting trains muscles and not movements, which is not natural for the body.  Doing so requires knowing how to eliminate or diminish natural inclinations of movement patterns to get more growth, if that is your goal. This is why cosmetic gain is often so difficult in natural trainees.  They end up training "exercises" rather than muscles.
 
Only intense concentration of every inch of every rep of every set can insure you are stretching fully the biceps without letting the triceps contract and vice versa.  If you are following along with the Innervation Training logic, this is yet another reason why most two arm movements are not as effective for development of the arms as are what are known as the "isolation exercises" where you can more closely concentrate and monitor the quality of the execution of a rep, and a set, rather than just trying to indiscriminately lift a weight from start to completion.  This "counting reps mindset" is NOT the way to train for optimum development or muscle fiber recruitment and stimulation.
 
These two points of Innervation Training research force a total reexamination of most arms movements for biceps and triceps to examine efficacy. People often ask me which is better for arms, barbells or dumbbells, and the answer is that neither are all that great, or both are fine, depending on the implementation of the exercises. 
 
While dumbbell concentration curls are excellent for biceps development, almost all other most effective movements for biceps and triceps development, are done with machines or cables.
 
Almost all of my total revamping of client's arms workout had to do with mimicking dumbbell or barbell work on a cable machine.  Take one arm dumbbell extension for example.  By doing this one from a low pulley instead of using a dumbbell the shoulder is taken out of the movement and gravity is more efficient on the eccentric portion of the rep all the way through the completion of a set. (this eccentric emphasis is known as "loading")  Doing this substitution instead of using the dumbbell is just one innovation that the precepts of Innervation Training dictate in order to get maximum pre-stretch with resistance, in the muscles which insures maximum overload potential.
 
While focusing on machines and cables (instead of dumbbells or barbells) produce the most efficient results, you still have to employ high intensity Innervation Training Techniques in order to get the best results from any workout or program design.
 
PUMP

With arms training it is important to not stop at the bottom or top of a movement between reps. When you execute repetitions that way, other stabilizing muscles will contract to ease the stress off of the working biceps or triceps.  When that happens once again you are negating the important full stretch with resistance phase, that is so vital to a maximum quality contraction that will force the most overload.  The point isn't to move the weight quickly, but to pump and not stop in between reps.  Stopping or pausing between reps allows for the body to recruit the same fibers over and over, and this does not efficiently overload the targeted muscles. This is one reason why most people "want" to pause at some point between reps, because workload is thwarted that way and becomes easier.  This is one aspect of training that is clearly seen if you look at training from the standpoint of neural focus, and recruitment patterns, vs. traditional myopic views of muscles contracting during exercise.  There are indeed techniques and practices to employ that will either make an exercise movement easier or more difficult resulting in better, or wasted fiber recruitment potential. 
 
Again, it's not just about "how much you lift" for "how many times."  That is the biggest mistake made in modern training protocol implementation.  The load (lbs used) does NOT necessarily tell you how much stress the targeted muscle is under in terms of "real" neuromuscular overload.
 
In other words it doesn't matter if you curled 50 lbs more than usual if your technique allowed for several other contributing muscles to assist in the execution of the reps.  In this sense, this is not what is meant when experts equate strength to muscle gain.  In the real world of training, it is not how much "external load" is used to execute a series of reps, but more importantly how much "internal force and stress" a targeted muscle and its fibers are under during that course of repetitions.  Often, then, it follows that for real size, development, and stimulation, a trainee is better advise to lower the weights they are using and concentrate on form and technique, than to make the foolish mistake of translating load to productivity.
 
FIGHT THE FLEX

When training biceps or triceps don't just rep a weight up, flex it up during the concentric phase.  That is to say flex the targeted muscle, either triceps or biceps from starting point to full contraction.  This produces maximum intensity and negates the tendency to use other muscles with lower excitation thresholds because you are literally lifting the weight up by flexing the targeted muscle from the starting position.  After you complete the lifting phase of the movement this way then "fight the flex" as you go through the eccentric phase of the rep.  That is not to say go slow or slow the movement down.  No. What I am saying is that you should try to maintain the tension in the muscle that you just contracted with an intense flex.  Maintain a tension in the muscle as it tries to stretch during the negative phase.  You will feel the difference doing this almost immediately.
 
Anyone can hoist a weight up for a series of reps in any plane of motion exercise. This is often seen in arm workout movements because trainees mistakenly think that how much they lift equates to results, when in fact they are only hoisting or lifting a weight, instead of training a targeted muscle!  This kind of momentum use tends to negate fiber recruitment, and bypass the toughest leverage challenges, where real work and results lie.
 
STRIP SETS

The most intense Innervation Training Technique is the performance of strip sets.  Not all exercises lend themselves to be good for doing strip sets, but any two-arm isolation movement for arms make it a good one to try.  But strip sets Innervation Training style are NOT drop sets. They are much more difficult. First you need to select a proper isolation movement for biceps or triceps to be able to do a proper strip set.  And you also need to apply the above training principles during every inch of every rep of every set to be successful.  But there is more.  A strip set is the hardest form of intensity applied:
 
First do progressively increased warm ups till you are ready for the maximum performance. Pin loaded machines are best for this.  Pick a weight you can do only 4-5 reps with in cheating form to totally exhaust the fast twitch fibers of any contributing motor units.  When you reach failure you go to the very next lightest weight and try to complete a good rep.  If you can complete a rep you stay there, and try to complete another one.  When you cannot complete another rep at that weight you move down to the next lightest weight and so on.
 
As the muscle burns you can take a second or two to rest, and then try to continue.  The goal of a strip set is time not weight. (time under tension)
 
The longer you can make it last, the more efficient the overload. But remember, try to complete every rep by fully stretching the targeted muscle without letting the antagonist contract, try to keep tension in the muscle by fighting the flex, and don't stop at the top or bottom of the movement.  Think Pump, even though you may only get one rep at each weight stop as you go down the weight stack with the selector pin.
 
That is a lot to think about and proof that training properly for real results is as much a mental game as it is a physical one.  And this is where the problem lies even among good, thinking athletes.  If you are thinking about the wrong things like external cues (how much weight for how many reps) you miss what really matters and that is how fried is the targeted bodypart after the set. (internal cues)
 
With the above points and techniques in mind let me give you an example of just one of the workouts that, if properly employed, should yield great biofeedback results.  There are literally dozens of movements you can do for arms as well as some of my new innovations. 
 
Rather than listing all the great arms movements let me for now just list the ones I think are not so good for developing the arms, if arms are a stubborn bodypart for you.  By reading this list, you may think I am crazy, but don't forget my choices are based on the foundations of Innervation Training Research and Not just traditional movements.  And before you call that crazy, consider the fact that if "traditionalism is all there was to it," then everyone would have the gains they seek, just by following anyone's traditional training protocol.
 
Anyway, here's the list:
 
1.) barbell curls
For reasons listed above this exercise is just not efficient for biceps development because it is done more for the ego and because of tradition than because it produces results.  If it were executed with the techniques prescribed above, it would be a viable biceps exercise, even though it is not the most efficient in terms of preferred "plane of motion" function.
 
2) seated or standing dumbbell curls
Not only is the shoulder more likely to absorb the work, and initiate the work, but the whole supination logic is faulty.  Starting the movement with the thumbs inward to the leg means you are focusing on the brachi radialis. This is done more efficiently with hammer curls or Zottman curls.  As you supinate the wrist during contraction on this movement you shift the emphasis on to the long head of the biceps, which wasn't properly stretched with resistance in the initial starting position, because the thumbs were faced inward.
 
This means you get the least of two involved muscles rather than the most out of one, which is what you should be shooting for.
 
So either keep thumbs away from the side of the leg through the "whole range of motion" or just turn the whole movement instead into "hammer curls" to affect the brachi radialis.
 
3) triceps dumbbell extension
This movement produces tremendous infringement on the shoulder and there is a tendency to move the humerus during the movement which subtracts from the quality of overload.  By doing this exercise from a low pulley cable instead, you get a much more efficient contraction and more tension on the triceps through the whole range of motion.
 
4) triceps kickbacks
this exercise is often a complete waste of time.  Because of the plane of motion within which the movement is done, there is no gravitational pull on the triceps during the eccentric phase of the lift, negating a whole half of the rep.  This in and of itself also negates the important "stretch with resistance" phase of any repetition.
 
Again, performing it on a cable with a rope will be much more efficient but there are still other and better exercises which force more intense contractions.
 
These are just a couple of exercises for both triceps and biceps that I no longer include in my workouts at all because they are just not efficient, especially when executed in traditional workout fashion.

As promised, a sample of one of my current workouts looks something like this.
 
EXERCISE                                                               SETS AND REPS
 
Triceps pushdowns                                                 3-4 warm ups then  
                                                                               4 X's 8-10 or 1 strip set
 
seated machine triceps extensions                        3-4 sets X's 8-10 or 1 strip set
 
one arm triceps rope extensions                            3-4 X's 10-12 each arm
from the low pulley
 
overhead rope triceps extensions                           3-4 X's 12-15 or 1 strip set
 
dumbbell concentration curls                                   3-4 warm ups then 3 X's 6-10
 
high pulley one arm concentration curls                  4 X's 10-15
 
machine preacher curls                                            3 X's 10-12 or 1 strip set
 
1 arm Zottman curls                                                 3 X's 12 15
 
 
Now yes, that is a lot of volume for an arm workout.  But with this workout, only train arms once per week.  And to make arms a priority, always train them after a rest day.  So the gas tank is really full and ready to go.
 
Obviously strip sets are only done for one movement per workout.  Above I was just illustrating where the most likely exercise and place for a strip set would be.
 
Also with arms training, it would be possible to break the training down to twice per week.  This way you would do biceps and triceps in a similar fashion but only with three exercises for each, and for only three sets of each. 
 
If you wanted to "prioritize" arm training in this way, then I would recommend doing the first day with two-arm movements, and low reps 6-8, and the second day employ single arm movements and do higher reps, say 12-15.
 
This can be a great way to prioritize arm training to the next level. 
 
One final word on arm training:  if your goal is for maximum development of biceps and triceps, always train them together. You will often see programs where biceps are done with back, or triceps with chest etc.  This is fine if arm development is not an issue.
 
But again, if arm development is a focus in your current or future training programs always train biceps and triceps together.  This creates and forces more localized neural involvement that is so important in the most critical stages of overload and fiber recruitment patterns in exercise performance. 
 
Hopefully from this article you can see the difference that training science can have in implementing any effective training protocol. Just because a movement is "traditional" does not make it by itself, effective.  To be effective all workouts must be seen as "alive" and viable, and not just something "written down" on a piece of paper.  It is this qualitative approach to training, that involves the trainee to think "inside the body" that produces the most favorable results. 
 
The traditionalist approach to look at lbs lifted as the whole story misses the point completely. The subtleties of training must never be underestimated.

Scott Abel has trained over 300 bodybuilding and figure champions, coached professional hockey players, football players and wrestlers, and has had enormous success with individuals wanting to lose weight, get into shape and get healthy - from teens to seniors, and anywhere in between.