I?ve yet to read a textbook that contributed more to my arm size than what I?ve learned from my own lifetime of lifting. Since age 13 (1985), I?ve trained my arms as a total package of biceps, triceps and forearms in the belief that they are equally important.

These are the 17 arm fundamentals ? 8 for biceps, 5 for triceps and 4 for forearms ? that I?ve always used. Let?s get started.



RULE #1 ? VOLUME

Don?t buy in to the cop-out that small muscle groups need fewer sets. The more sets I do, the more I grow, so 20 sets for biceps is an embarrassing minimum for me. Usually I do 25 to 35. Obviously, I don?t recommend that volume for you unless you?re at my level, but you should always push yourself to do more. How much, more is indicated by the muscle?s refractory period. Beat it so senseless with heavy weight that it remains fatigued until your next workout.




RULE #2 INCLUDE STANDING BARBELL CURLS IN EVERY WORKOUT

Every muscle group has its classic mass builder. For biceps, that exercise is standing barbell curls. They don't always have to be your first exercise, but they must be in every biceps workout, Go very heavy with them, but never cheat. Keep your elbows at your sides and get a complete contraction at the top. Lower the bar slowly and tightly, but do not extend all the way to the bottom. Do these as straight sets. They're too heavy to superset-at least they should be.



RULE #3 SUPERSET
Almost always, I superset near the end of my workout. By that time my biceps are so numb from heavy straight sets that the blood has nowhere to go, so if I attack them quickly with two different movements, it stirs things up and restores the pump. Beginners: Wait until you are intermediate or advanced before supersetting. Build mass, with straight sets first.

RULE #4 INCLUDE TWO-ARM PREACHER CURLS IN EVERY WORKOUT

Preacher curls with either a barbell or cambered bar are a necessary power-isolation movement that involves just enough leverage to force the biceps bellies to pull with maximum stress at both ends of their insertions.

RULE #5 CHANGE YOUR WORKOUTS

Just because I believe an exercise should be used every time doesn't mean it should be used in exactly the same way every time. Your body will familiarize itself with a movement by coordinating various muscles. That makes the movement easier, but it reduces stress on the muscle. As a bodybuilder, you want to increase that stress, so change your order of exercises every time. Never give your body a chance to adapt.

LEE PRIEST'S ARM PROGRAM FOR BEGINNERS
EXERCISE SETS REPS

BICEPS
Dumbbell concentration curls 3 10-12
Barbell curls 3 10-12
Alternate dumbbell curls 3 10-12
Barbell preacher curls 3 10-12
Dumbbell preacher curls 3 10-12

TRICEPS
French presses 3 10-12
Two-arm dumbbell extensions 3 10-12
Close-grip bench presses 3 10-12
V-bar cable pressdowns 3 10-12
One-arm dumbbell extensions 3 10-12

FOREARMS
Cambered-bar reverse curls 3 12-18
Alternate dumbbell hammer curls 3 12-18
Barbell wrist curls 3 12-18
Twists 3 12-18

RULE #6 INCLUDE DUMBBELL PREACHER CURLS IN EVERY WORKOUT

A one-arm dumbbell curl on a preacher bench enables me to apply power-isolation to areas that cannot be reached by two-arm curls. By keeping the dumbbell level, supinating it or pronating it, I can respectively target my biceps peak, inner head, outer head or brachialis. This is not effective as a superset movement, because of the delay between sets, but it's ideal for heavy straight sets.

RELATED ARTICLE: LEE PRIEST'S TRAINING SPLIT

Day 1: Chest

Day 2: Back, forearms

Day 3: Biceps, triceps

Day 4: Shoulders

Day 5: Quads

Day 6: Hamstrings, calves, touchup

Day 7: Rest



RULE #7 BEGIN YOUR WORKOUT WITH DUMBBELL CONCENTRATION CURLS

If I already have a pump before my heaviest sets, the fatigue is driven deeper and quicker into the muscle, so I pre-exhaust my biceps with concentration curls, sometimes free-armed, sometimes from a spider bench and sometimes off the top of an incline bench.

RULE #8 INCLUDE ALTERNATE DUMBBELL CURLS IN EVERY WORKOUT

I credit this exercise more than any other for giving my biceps their spherical mass. The versatility of this movement, and the fact that it allows me to use lots of weight, endows me with the power to place that mass in any area of my biceps I choose. If I hold the dumbbells level, the bulk of the work is directed into my biceps brachii. If I supinate as I curl, I spread the mass around the ball of my biceps.




RULE #9 INCLUDE TWO-ARM DUMBBELL EXTENSIONS IN EVERY WORKOUT

You've seen those guys with the sides of their triceps horseshoes bulging around the muscle bellies all the way to their elbows. This is how they got that mass, it's the safest power movement for triceps. Interlocking my thumbs inside one end of the dumbbell, I lower it until my hands are at the base of my skull, then explode with all my might, pressing as far as I can, without locking out.

RULE #10 ONE-ARM BEHIND-THE-NECK DUMBBELL EXTENSIONS, THE PERFECT PRIORITIZER

I'm convinced that no one can have complete triceps development without this movement. It hits all three heads of the triceps with sufficient distribution of power to keep them in muscular balance. I get a fairly good stretch at the bottom but I don't press all the way to the top. Constant tension works best with these.

RULE #11 INCLUDE TRICEPS EXTENSIONS IN EVERY WORKOUT

I don't care where you put extension movements in your triceps workout just do them every time. You can't have optimum triceps mass without them. I like a cambered bar but some guys prefer a straight bar. Also lying hits the belly seated hits the horseshoe. In either case. I control the weight on the way down tightening as I go then gradually turn on power for the press.

LEE PRIEST'S INTERMEDIATE ARM PROGRAM

EXERCISE SETS REPS
BICEPS
Concentration curls 4 6-8
Barbell curls 4 6-8
Cambered-bar preacher curls 4 6-8
Seated alternate dumbbell curls 4 6-8 superset with 4 to failure Close-grip chins
Dumbbell preacher curls 4 6-8

TRICEPS
Close-grip bench presses 4 6-8
Two-arm dumbbell extensions 4 6-8
Lying French presses 4 6-8
V-bar cable pressdowns 4 6-8 superset with Seated French presses 4 6-8
One-arm dumbbell extensions 4 6-8

FOREARMS
Cambered-bar reverse curls 4 6-8
Barbell wrist curls 4 6-8
Alternate dumbbell hammer curls 4 6-8
Twists 4 6-8



RULE #12 INCLUDE V-BAR CABLE PRESSDOWNS IN EVERY WORKOUT

The worst mistake bodybuilders make with cable pressdowns is to use them as a strict isolation movement, when they're perfectly designed for applying power and building overall triceps mass, especially with a V bar. That's how I use them. I lean in slightly, so I can press straight down through the power axis of my body. Because of the weight I use, I let my elbows go where they want; my triceps still get all the work. I also stay in the six- to eight-rep range, using constant tension.

RULE #13 INCLUDE CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESSES IN EVERY WORKOUT

Nothing heats basic close-grip benches for building belly size in your triceps. If you use a monkey grip and keep your hands just far enough apart to apply explosive power. the inner head of each triceps and the total length and girth of its belly--from your traps all the way down to your elbows--will become so huge that people will think you're keeping something in there that needs to be set free. Look at what close-grip benches did for me.



RULE #14 CAMBERED-BAR REVERSE CURLS ARE THE BEST MASS-BALANCING ARM EXERCISE

My biceps-triceps-forearm proportions may be the best in the sport because I work each of those muscle groups equally hard. I also make sure I hit them in a compound manner with this exercise. High reps produce a paralyzing pump in my lower forearms and burn ropelike separations into my upper forearms. At the same time, I'm working my biceps and brachialis to tie them in with my forearms.

RULE #15 TRAIN FOREARMS AFTER BACK

Your forearms are used all day, every day, so in order to get them to grow, you need to take them to extremes. The most efficient way to do that is to make sure they're pre-exhausted, and they're optimally pre-exhausted after a back workout. That's when I hit mine. My forearms then fatigue quicker and deeper, resulting in a very efficient forearms workout.

RULE #16 USE VERY HIGH REPETITIONS

My forearms, and presumably yours, are accustomed to low reps from lifting heavy weights for other bodypart workouts, so I figure that the best way to shock them awake is to do just the opposite: Hit them directly with insanely high reps, never less than 25 and frequently going up to 100.

RULE #17 CURL AND TWIST THROUGH THREE DIMENSIONS

Not only must you do reverse curls for the top of your forearms and wrist curls for the underside of your forearms, but you should also add hammer curls and twists to spread mass around your entire forearms areas.

CALL TO ARMS

By following these fundamentals, the upside is that my arms keep getting bigger. The downside is that what I'm doing never gets easier. The moral is that if you're willing to suffer these rules, you'll eventually need a flatbed truck to lug around your arms, as I do. What are you waiting for?

LEE PRIEST'S ADVANCED ARM PROGRAM
EXERCISE SETS REPS
BICEPS
Concentration curls 5 6-8
Standing barbell curls 7 6-8
Alternate dumbbell curls 5 6-8
Cambered-bar preacher curls 5 6-8 superset with Close-grip chins 5 6-8
Dumbbell preacher curls 5 6-8

TRICEPS
Close-grip bench presses 7 6-8
Two-arm dumbbell extensions 5 6-8
Lying French presses 5 6-8
V-bar cable pressdowns 5 6-8 superset with Dips 5 to failure
Seated French presses 5 6-8
One-arm dumbbell extensions 3 6-8

FOREARMS
Alternate dumbbell hammer curls 5 8-10
Barbell wrist curls 5 25+Twists 5 25+
Cambered-bar reverse curls 5 25+

TRAINING GUIDELINES

* For all workouts, warm up with two or three light sets of the first exercise.

* Beginners should work to just short of failure.

* Beginners and intermediates should train arms twice a week, with two or three days between each workout.

* Intermediates and advanced trainers should work to failure.

* Advanced trainers should train arms once per week.



Source:FLEX