BY TOBY RICHARDS

"Welcome to my Ebook focused solely towards one

objective, building big arms! I have broken down the
functions of the bicep and tricep muscles in order to get a
clear understanding of how it all works and the best
exercises to stimulate muscle growth.
Inside you will find a description of each exercise I use to
develop my arms with pointers and tips on how to best
execute each movement. I’ve included two complete arm
workouts that I myself and many of my online and one to
one clients use which have led to great results.
As descriptive and as accurate the workouts are, nothing works unless you
do… so that being said… every rep, every set, every exercise and every
workout has to be completed with intensity, accuracy and intent. Alongside
the correct nutrition this plan will aid you into developing bigger and more
‘complete’ arms! "

toby_richa
 The arms are split into two main muscle groups, the
INTRO DUCTION biceps and the triceps which are then broken down
further. The biceps brachii have two muscle heads
(bi) both a long and short head, the long head being
on the outside of the arm closest to the triceps. The
triceps are made up from 3 muscle heads hence the
word ‘tri’ which are know as the long, lateral and
medial. Understanding the breakdown of the muscle
groups and how they move/work plays a huge role
in developing them.
The role of the biceps is to perform a flexion at the
elbow joint and supination of the forearm (supination
when you turn your hand/wrist upwards) so a
movement like a bicep curl with a dumbbell is going
to perform both a flexion and supination movement
simultaneously. The Triceps are the antagonist of the
biceps so their role is reversed, instead of flexion at
the elbow joint they make extension possible
(increasing the angle between two
bones/straightening)

Lateral Head
Brachialis Lateral Head Of Triceps
Of Triceps Brachii
Brachialis Brachii Long Head
Tendon Of of Triceps
Biceps Triceps Brachii
Biceps
Brachii Brachii Brachii Medial Head
Of Triceps
Brachii

Anconeus
Olecranon
(elbow)

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 FUNDIMENTALS

Things to consider when training the biceps and

triceps (or any muscle group)
Range of motion - working through a full range is
going to increase the amount of stress placed on the
muscle(s)
Time under tension (TUT) - the amount of time a
muscle is held under tension plays an important role
when comes to maximising hypertrophy and muscle
development. Focussing on a slow eccentric
movement (2-3 seconds) will be a lot more effective
than ‘rushed’ reps.

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 FUNDIMENTALS

FORM - This is made up partly from both

fundamentals mentioned above however what we
are trying to do when training a specific muscle
group is to ensure that we’re not involving other
bigger muscle groups by swinging or twisting
anywhere and taking away any direct tension from
the chosen muscle. This will be less effective at
developing the area we want and can also cause
injury, focus on the reps being smooth and
mechanically correct.
RECOVERY - an important one to mention, when we
train our muscles we break them down and its in the
recovery where they grow in size and get stronger.
We need to allow adequate time for them to rebuild
so training a muscle once to twice a week in most
cases is plenty.

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 THE EXERCISES BICEPS
Exercise Notes
Have bench setting at 45 degrees, big
Seated bicep curls contraction at the top of each rep and
(alternating) control the eccentric movement.

Avoid swinging and control the tension

EZ bar curl on the eccentric. Keep elbows in tight
(standing) to the sides and hands shoulder width
apart.

Avoid swinging at the hips and keep

Hammer curl reps strict as possible. Bring the
(Alternating) Dumbbells up and across the body
hitting the Brachialis.

Bench at 45 degrees and lying face

down arms hanging down in front of
Spider curls you, bring the dumbbells up to your
(DB) chin and contract at the top, tension
throughout.

Machine or free weight can be used

with an E-Z bar. Use a full range of
Preacher curl motion and constant tension
throughout.

From a standing position using both

hands on a rope attached to a cable,
perform full range of motion curls with
Cable rope thumbs face upwards and flare out
curl slightly at the top of each rep. lower
under control and keep constant
tension.

a single arm exercise. Sitting to the

edge of a bench with elbow of working
Concentrated arm half way up inside of the same side
curls leg. Remain tension in the bicep
throughout each rep and use a full
range of motion.

Palms facing down, Avoid swinging and

EZ reverse control the tension on the eccentric.
curl Keep elbows in tight to the sides and
hands shoulder width apart.

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 THE EXERCISES TRICEPS
Exercise Notes
Keep elbows locked tight into side,
Rope tricep squeeze at the bottom of each rep and
extensions control the eccentric.

Lying on a flat bench, control bar to

Tricep skull forehead and fully contract at the top of
crusher (EZ bar) each rep.

Avoid swinging at the hips and keep

Hammer curl reps strict as possible. Bring the
(Alternating) Dumbbells up and across the body
hitting the Brachialis.

Slow and controlled reps over head,

Seated DB tricep use a full range of motion and maintain
extensions tension and a straight back throughout.

Keep back close to the bench and keep

Bench dips legs out straight, chest up and range of
motion to just 90 degree.

Using a bench press or smith press set

up, have elbows locked tight into sides
Close arm and hand grip slightly more narrow than
shoulder width. Lower bar 70-80%
press range of a standard bench press and
focus on keeping tension in the triceps.
Full lock out at the top of each rep.

Standing in the ‘ bent over row’

position, chest parallel to the ground
Dumbbell kick and elbow inline with lower back. Drive
backs hand up and backwards squeezing the
triceps, split second hold and lower
under control.

Using a V bar attachment on a cable,

V bar extensions have the setting at shoulder height,
(over head) elbows either side of the head and
push upwards and squeeze the triceps
at the top of each rep.

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 THE WORKOUTS KEY WORDS
Rest pause - here I want you to pick a weight that is
going to be very difficult for you to complete 12 reps
with, once you manage 12 reps ( or close to) take a 20
second rest before then completing 8 reps, take a
further 20 seconds rest then complete a final 5 reps.
This should have you failing or close to failure so
make sure the weight is heavy enough but also the
reps are slow and controlled.

15-20 - using this rep range as an example, I want

you to pick a weight that you can complete 15 reps
with but should have you failing before 20 reps. If not
on the first set definitely by the seconds set.

Max - self explanatory, make sure you can not

manage another rep, ALL OUT.

Drop set - staying on the same exercise, once you

reach failure on the chosen weight then drop the
weight say 25-50% and continue without rest until
you reach failure once again.

Back off set - drop down 20-30% from the heaviest

set you’ve built up to.

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 SUPER SET ARM SESSION
THE WORKOUTS EXERCISE
(A) Seated bicep curls
(B) Bench dips
(A) EZ bar curl
(B) EZ bar skull crusher
(A) hammer curls
(B) DB tricep extensions
(A) Cable rope curls
(B) Rope tricep extensions
BICEPS AND TRICEPS WORKOUT
EXERCISE
Rope tricep extensions
Close arm bench press
V bar extensions (over head)
Tricep kickbacks
Preacher curl
Cable rope curl
Spider curls
Reverse EZ bar curls
Close arm push ups
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Sets
3
REPS
12-15 per arm
3 MAX
3 8-12
3 12-15
3 8-12 per arm
3 15-20
3 15-20
3 15-20
Sets REPS
4 15-20
4 8-12
3 (drop set each set) 8-12 into 10-15
3 12-15 per arm
12-15 (first 3 sets)
5 7-10 (last 2 sets)
4 15-20
3 12-15
4 15-20
1 Max
7
COMPLETE GUN
GUIDE
BY TOBY RICHARDS

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