“The One-Arm-A-Day Arm Cure”
By George A.
Baselice
A.C.E., I.S.S.A., A.F.P.A., A.A.P.T.E
Instructor for the Personal Training Course
Accredited through Hofstra
University
Don’t
be shy. I want an honest answer to the following question and
shhhhh, I promise not to tell anybody. Has anyone out there tried
The One-Day Arm Cure by Charles Poliquin, or am I
the only nut who can pretend to afford an entire day devoted to
training arms? Well, I gotta tell ya, I’ve had better Sundays at
my mother-in-laws’ house! And my arms got a better pump just
helping stir her tomato sauce! This is one nutty program. I can’t
give full credit to Mr. Poliquin for this brainstorm, nor does he
credit himself for it. The method was developed and popularized in
the various muscle magazines of the 60’s, Mr. Poliquin just, ugh,
refined it. He took a few of his favorite arm exercises such as
the seated Zottman curl and the California press and had you
perform them every half-hour. Every few hours you ate a certain
magical combination of foods and supplements but no bathroom
time-outs. I guess I cheated because I added in a few squirts and
one dump. Hey, I went from 9am to 7pm. What was I thinking! Did I gain between 3/8 to ½ inch on my arms five
days after completing this program as the article claimed? NO. Did
my arms shrink for the
first 24 hours after this workout as the article also claimed?
YES. And they’re still shrinking! As negative as I sound,
I’m in no way whacking on Charles Poliquin. He’s helped change
sports conditioning and bodybuilding training for the better. I
applied many of his training protocols to the 12-week exercise &
nutrition program outlined in my book “The Turning Point” which
won me the World’s Best Personal Trainer Contest
www.worldsbesttrainer.com. So I credit
much of my skills as a personal trainer to his teachings, except
this one. But here’s his chance (and yours) to call me and my
training methods nuts (we’ve been called worse) because I came up
with a nutty arm routine of my own: “The One-Arm a Day
Arm Cure”.
Your
mission Mr. Phelps, if you decide to accept it, (sorry, but I’m a
big
Mission:
Impossible fan) is to work just one arm (both triceps and
biceps, 8sets of 8 reps total) each day alternating six days a
week for six weeks. One day your right arm; the next day your
left. Do no other exercises except alternating one of the
following each day: Squats (4x10), Bench Press
(4x10), and Bent-Over Barbell Rowing (4x10).
*Note the
Importance of the other “Big Three” exercises - You will fail to
get big arms just by working your arms. The whole body must be
trained, but not overtrained. By utilizing only the Squat, Bench
and Row, we give the body what I call a “ripple effect”. No other
exercises (with the exception of the Deadlift) give as much
stimulation to the muscles involved and throughout the entire body. These big bang exercises are
also powerful growth hormone stimulators and work your
cardiovascular system to an extent unequaled to any “aerobic”
workout. They’re simply outstanding. Sure they’re tough, but the
indirect high growth potential for your arms far outweighs the
effort required.
Before
I jump right into the basic concept of this program, let me point
out that this is an advanced routine, one that would be far to
difficult for a beginner (someone with less than a year of
fundamental resistance training). I’m about to recommend a course
of action by which the advanced bodybuilder can improve the size
and shape of his or her arms significantly. At the same time, the
actual duration of your workouts will decrease. Don’t panic – you
read correctly! Less time – but definitely more effort. You’ll
have to focus and concentrate like never before. Just make sure
you follow the usual guidelines that are designed for you to get
the most out of any such workout program; warm-up sufficiently,
end a set before your form breaks down, pay
attention to proper nutritional, supplemental, and sleep needs,
etc. I’m dispensing with detailed recommendations on these areas
as I feel most experienced bodybuilders have sufficient knowledge
of them already. If not, refer to my book “The Turning Point”
and/or Chris Aceto’s outstanding book “Championship Bodybuilding”.
*Follow these five major
guidelines:
1) Concentrate on two basic arm
exercises only (one for biceps/one for triceps), per workout.
The search for some kind of magic exercises or program to suddenly
create twenty-one inch monsters out of matchsticks is useless and
time consuming. Forget that – you want to work harder, not longer.
I don’t try to make weight training more complicated than it needs
to be. Forget all these “advanced mad Russian programs” or the
“muscle building secrets of the Bulgarians”. I’ve gotten the best
results for my clients and students by sticking with the basics.
2) Work as hard and heavy as
possible. I know, I know – you’ve heard this one before, but
this time you’re not only going to do it, you’re going to DO IT
RIGHT! You should be using your maximum weight as much as possible
in this program. I would define a maximum as one you truly
struggle with on the last few reps, with a minimum
of cheating. The last rep should leave you breathless and too
“cramped” to support the weight any longer. And remember to
constantly keep upgrading your poundages. What has been a
gut-busting struggle to lift three weeks ago, should no longer be
today, and weight has to be steadily and constantly added to your
routine to ensure the muscles are always worked to their maximum.
3) Longer isn’t better (at
least that’s what I tell my wife Carmela!). This is the answer for
all those of you who have just been thinking that they can
maintain such intensity for their usual fifteen or twenty sets
each of bicep & triceps work – You can’t! But what you want to
achieve is as thorough a working of the muscle as possible in as
little time as possible. The late, great bodybuilding “guru” Vince
Gironda defined true intensity as “doing more work in less time”.
Look at your workout time as an uninterrupted battle between the
weight and yourself. This rules out conversation between sets,
lingering at the water fountain, striking and holding a
spectacular front double bicep pose for all those wearing spandex,
and gazing too long at all those wearing spandex! Work at a
steady, efficient pace at all times and limit your rest between
sets and exercises to bare minimum – say half a minute to a minute
at the most.
4) Keep your movements slow and
strict. Even though I have just preached the necessity of
limiting wastages of time, that doesn’t mean you try to appear in
the Guinness book under the heading “World’s Fastest Curler”.
Momentum should not be your training partner! The movements should
be a slow (not super slow), smooth and controlled eccentric
with an explosive concentric - not jerked up and down and slow
enough to avoid letting gravity and momentum do the work for you.
5) Visualize your goals, and
concentrate on them. Remember that it was Arnold who started
imaging his biceps filling the whole room he was in. Frank Zane
will give you the same pitch for utilizing the mind properly to
shape the body. Watch intently the action of the bicep or tricep
as you train in a sleeveless shirt. This is why one limb training
is effective. All your effort, concentration and sheer force is on
that one muscle to achieve that one goal – size. Keep that image
of the muscle swelling before your eyes for as long as you can
after. Believe that the food you’re digesting that day is going
straight to the arm you’re training that day to nourish it. By
simply thinking size, size will follow.
This will be
your plan…
MONDAY
Squat
– 4 sets, 10 reps
The arm workout
(right arm only*)
*Size and/or
strength imbalances left to right are extremely common. If you
have an imbalance you may benefit from applying the “King
Weak-Side Rule”. Named after Ian King, its self-proclaimed
founder, although Paul Chek has also been emphasizing this
technique for years. Arnold was the first that I ever recall
recommending the weak side rule as it pertains to bodybuilding.
Check out his “Building Jumbo-Wide Shoulders” booklet from his
1976 mail order bodybuilding program. Good luck finding it and no,
mine is not for sale! Neither is my Charles Atlas ‘Dynamic-Tension
course!
Arnold
states under the one arm side cable laterals exercise description:
“If you have one arm weaker than the other, a good trick is to do
the weak arm first”. So let’s listen to Arnold and his 22-inch
guns and start Monday’s workout with your weaker arm to take
advantage of Sunday’s rest. Your concentration and strength will
be at their most efficient. If you’re unsure which arm is the weak
one, you will by the end of the first week! If you find an
imbalance of less than 20%, add an extra set on the weak side. If
the imbalance is closer to 50% cut the rep range down to 6
(without going to complete muscular fatigue) on the strong arm
compared to the 8 reps for the weak side. When you do initially go
back to your regular workout routine and return to doing both arms
in the same workout, do 2 extra sets on the weak side for every 1
set on the strong side.
Seated, Offset-Grip Dumbbell Curl
– 4 sets, 8 reps
Sit upright on
a regular bench holding a dumbbell in your right hand with the
thumb side of your hand resting against the inside surface of the
dumbbell plate. Start the exercise with a neutral grip (as if
holding a hammer), and curl the weight simultaneously supinating
your wrist (turn your palms up) as you complete the curling
movement. The purpose of the offset-grip is to provide resistance
upon supination; otherwise each side of the bell would
counterbalance each other as it does during the most overly used,
commonly performed rotational curl. This places emphasis on the
supinator muscle of the forearm along with the biceps brachii. The
brachioradialis also assists with supination. For added resistance
upon supination, I stick a magnetic 1-¼ lb. Platemate to the
heavier end of the dumbbell.
Decline
Dumbbell Triceps Extension
– 4 sets, 8
reps
I find this
exercise to be one of the most effective for recruiting all three
heads of the tricep. You’ll find it also allows for a greater
stretch than most triceps exercises and the extended range of
motion against gravity will literally shock your muscles into new
growth. Start by positioning yourself supine on a decline bench
with a dumbbell in your right hand. Make sure to hook your feet
under the padded rollers or you'll slide off like a sack of
potatoes, making a big loud thump on the ground with your head and
blaming it on me when the whole gym starts laughing. Once you get
in position, lift the dumbbell overhead in a bench press position.
Your grip should be neutral, as if you’re holding a hammer with
your palm facing in towards you. Keeping your elbow pointed
directly upward (and don’t let it flare out), lower the bell until
the plate makes contact with your right shoulder. Lift the bell
back up to the staring position by extending your elbow. Your
elbow should be the only moving joint during the exercise. To
jazz this up a little, rotate the palm down towards the floor
as you are reaching the 90-degree angle point of the decent. Make
this a slow and gradual rotation as you enter the point gravity
has its most pull. Then as you come back up to the top, gradually
rotate back to the neutral grip. This added load on the triceps at
the toughest part of the move is a great variation that will have
your tri’s smokin’.
TUESDAY
Barbell Bench Press – 4 sets, 10 reps
The arm workout
(left arm only)
Seated, Offset-Grip Dumbbell Curl – 4 sets, 8 reps
Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extension – 4 sets, 8 reps
WEDNESDAY
Bent-Over Barbell Row – 4 sets, 10 reps
The arm workout
(right arm only)
Seated, Offset-Grip Dumbbell Curl
– 4 sets, 8 reps
Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extension
– 4 sets, 8 reps
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
– SATURDAY
Begin cycle over starting with left arm
Thursday-Squat/left arm; Friday-Barbell Bench Press/right arm;
Saturday-Bent-Over Barbell Row/left arm
SUNDAY
Rest, Recover, Rebuild
Follow the program exactly as given for six weeks. Rest a week,
then follow it for another month. Then, drop all arm
specialization (if you don’t you’ll go stale). Go back to your
regular workout routine. Let a good two months pass and go at the
routine again, same procedure. If you can stand it you can try it
a third and even fourth time, bringing your arms, ultimately, up
to really impressive proportions and detail. If you like, you may
switch arm exercises a bit after following the outlined schedule
twice. I suggest for the biceps using the One-Arm Seated
Incline Dumbbell Curl or the (unsupported) One-Arm
Bent-Over Dumbbell Concentration Curl. For the triceps, you
can try the One-Arm Reverse Grip Cable Pushdown or the
One-Arm Cable Kickback. Just keep the Seated, Offset-Grip
Dumbbell Curl and the Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extension
as “staples” of the program. And of course you can perform the
Deadlift in place of the Squat or Bent-Over
Barbell Row once in a while. Although the name may imply it’s
dead, the dreaded deadlift should be alive and well in every
bodybuilding, powerlifting, beginning or advanced athlete’s
program. Include the deadlift in the One-Arm a Day Arm Cure
for a month, and see if you don’t start to notice dramatic gains
in strength and muscularity. Periodized performance of deadlifts
with progressive increases in poundage will pack massive muscle on
your legs, back, and ARMS. Refer to the vast majority of
quality publications by any or all three of the strength and
conditioning specialists I previously mentioned (Chek, King,
Poliquin) for the proper technique and performance of the deadlift,
bench press, squat, or bent-over row.
Now it’s up to you. How badly do you want those big,
sculpted arms?
Train Safe,
Smart, and with INTENSITY!
George A. Baselice,
www.worldsbesttrainer.com
