Build Your Arms

By Frank Zane M.A.

Mr. America, Mr. World,
3 time Mr. Universe,
3 time Mr. Olympia

Copyright 2014 Zananda Incorporated

PO Box 1090 La Mesa, Ca 91944
All rights reserved
www.frankzane.com
email: Zane0001@aol.com
How to Build Your Arms
You don’t need a lot of sophisticated equipment to build your arms. An
adjustable incline bench, a pair of adjustable dumbbells that go from 5 pounds to 45
pounds each, an adjustable barbell or EZ curl bar. You don’t need a lot of weight to
develop your arms, what’s more important is good form. You can check my Train with
Zane Workout DVD for that. If you have an overhead pulley like a lat machine and a
lower pulley that’s even better and you can do more exercises. But if you don’t you still
can get outstanding arms by doing the dumbbell exercises in good form on a regular basis.
What’s a regular basis? You should train your arms twice a week. This program
contains three levels of arm training: beginning, intermediate, and advanced, each
progressively harder. The advanced program is a specialization routine done three times
a week for accelerated improvement when you are ready for it. You’ll need cables for
the advanced routine which can be found in any commercial gym. If you are training in
your home gym you might want to pick up pick up or make a set of rubber cables.
Here are some specific references for equipment:
Hoist 5 Way Adjustable incline bench contact www.hoistfitness.com
Powerblocks adjustable dumbbells 45 pound set contact www.powerblocks.com
You can pick up a bar or an EZ curl bar at a sporting good or equipment store, a
five foot straight bar with collars works fine.
Check out www.bodylastics.com for a nice set of cables which you can hook up to
equipment for even more continuous tension during each set of arm work. Cables
provide variable resistance and give the muscles peak contraction at the endpoint of the
movement, that is the curled all the way up point for biceps curls and the locked out
position for triceps extensions, pressdowns, kickbacks.

The Schedule
I suggest you adopt a three way split routine as your regular program: day one
torso, day two legs, day three arms do this three days a week and then add a fourth arm
workout so you are hitting two arm workouts a week. You might do torso on Monday,
arms on Wednesday, legs on Friday, and arms again on Saturday. Doing any of the
routines in this manner should result in visible progress within three months. After you
are satisfied with your progress you can drop back to three workouts a week. Consult
my other courses for chest and shoulder programs, back programs, abdominal programs,
and leg programs and compete posing instructions.

Beginning Program
Triceps
Close grip bench pess
Dumbbell kickback

Biceps
Alternate dumbbell curl
Dumbbell concentration curl

Forearms
Barbell reverse curl
Barbell wrist curl
Close grip bench press – with a grip a few inches narrower with each hand as pictured
here, make the distance between your thumbs 12 to 15 inches (do not go narrower than
this as too narrow put a strain on the outer wrist), lower the weight very slowly to your
chest and then push it upward with as much force as necessary to where your elbows are
almost locked out, then without pausing, lower the weight slowly back down. Do not
push so hard that the weight rebounds at the finish position, shoot for a rhythmic
movement with negative being 2 to 4 seconds, positive 1 to 2 seconds. After warming up
do three sets of 12, 10, and 8 reps increasing the weight 5 to 10 pounds each set as you
drop your reps. Rest long enough between sets to allow yourself to be strong enough to
do this amount of reps as the weight increases. Two minutes between sets is a good
amount of time to recover and give you ample time to stretch. Focus on your triceps
when doing this movement, keeping your elbows pointed slightly outward will target the
outer lateral head of the triceps.

Dumbbell kickbacks – Grasp a pair of light dumbbells, bend forward at waist, pull elbows
up to chest, then gently kick them backward holding elbows in same position. Do a slow
rhythmic movement to a gently locked out position with 15, 12, 10 reps increasing weight
each set.
Between sets do the One arm shoulder stretch holding it for 15 seconds each arm.

Now let’s move on to working biceps:

Alternate dumbbell curl is a great size builder. The rule when curling is ‘keep your wrist
straight and supinate (turn wrist outward as your curl. The inside of the dumbbell should
move toward the body as you curl upward). Pause momentarily at the top of the curl
not letting the biceps relax, and tense the biceps before you begin slowly letting the
dumbbell go down. Then repeat with the other arm doing three sets of 12, 10, 8 reps
increasing the weight 2.5 to 5 pounds each set.
Dumbbell concentration curl is one of the best exercises for peaking the biceps providing
you tense the biceps in the finish position. Hold the contraction for a full second and
then begin lowering the dumbbell very slowly especially for the first three inches on the
way down. Curl it up rhythmically with a much force as necessary to bring the dumbbell
to a soft lock out position as in the photo. Do 12, 10, 8 reps increasing the weight 2.5 to
5 pounds each set.

Barbell reverse curl – is the main exercise for working the top (font anterior side) of the
forearms. With a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, wrap your hands around a
barbell and curl it up until it touches your chin. Without pausing lower the barbell very
slowly especially for the first 4 inches. Using a fat sleeved barbell will work the forearms
even more because it’s harder to grip. Do 15, 12, 10 reps on this exercise increasing the
weight 5 pounds on each set.
 Barbell wrist curl is a great exercise for the underside of the forearms and it’s the best
way to heal inner elbow injuries doing high reps (20 to 30) with a lighter weight. With a
thumb less grip let the bar roll down your palms and even your fingers, then curl upward
and pause for a half second in the finish position. I like doing 25, 20, 15 reps increasing
the weight 5 pounds each set.

That’s the program done in single set fashion which is how to do it for the first
four weeks. For the second four weeks super set each group of two exercises except for
biceps work. That means doing two exercises in a row without resting as follows:
Close girp bench press supersetted with dumbbell kickback
Continue to do alternate dumbbell curl and dumbbell concentration curl as single sets.
Barbell reverse curl supersetted with barbell wrist curl.
If you are happy with this arm routine you can stick with it as long as you like,
adding a 4th set and eventually a 5th set. But doing different exercises develops better
muscle shape because you stimulate from a variety of angles. So it’s a good idea to move
up to the intermediate routine after 2 months on the beginner routine.

Intermediate Program
Triceps
Parallel dip
Lying triceps extension
Pressdown or kickback

Biceps
Barbell curl
Face down incline dumbbell curl
One arm dumbbell curl
Forearms
EZ bar reverse curl
Gripper

Biceps, triceps, and forearm development should blend with and not overwhelm the rest
of the rest of the body.

Parallel dips are a good overall triceps size builder in the category of close grip bench
press providing you add weight to the movement as your strength builds up. I did this
exercise on my Nautilus Multi Purpose machine training for the 1979 Mr. Olympia and
worked up to 10 reps with 100 pounds attached. Do 3 sets of 12, 10, then 8 reps
increasing weight 5 pounds each set.
Lying ticeps etension can be done with a straight bar or an EZ curl bar as shown which
may give a more comfortable grip. Be sure to stretch down deep behind the head (lie
with head off end of the bench) to fully work the posterior head of the triceps. Bring the
weight up and lockout softly when the bar is right above your eyes. Do 3 sets of 12, 10,
8 reps increasing the weight 5 pounds each set, then hold arms back stretch 15 seconds
between sets.

Triceps pressdown is very similar in effect to dumbbell kickbacks so if you do not have
access to a lat machine or overhead pulley then continue doing kickbacks. You can also
do pressdown by attaching a rubber cable overhead with a handle on one end. With this
setup the tension will increase the more the cable is stretched giving a very effecting
contraction to the triceps. Hold the lockout position for one second before letting the
weight back slowly. Do 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps increasing weight 5 pounds each set.
Barbell curl is a wonderful mass builder to the biceps because the hands stay supinated
during the entire curl. For this reason do no lock our elbows out in the barbell hanging
position at the start of the curl, it puts stress on inner elbow. Curl weight up to the chin,
hold for a second and then lower very slowly for the first 6 inches. Do 3 sets of 12, 10, 8
reps increasing weight by 5 pounds each set. Be sure to do pronated arms back stretch
between sets. This is a good exercise for attaching a rubber cable to the bar.

Face down incline dumbbell curl is one of my favorite biceps peaking exercises. Since you
are leaning forward due to the steep incline, your biceps are fully contracted at the end of
the curl and aren’t able to fall inward as might happen when the body is upright due to
curling past the point of peak contraction or by turning your wrists inward. Once again
in curling, hold the tension in the finish position for a full second before lowering slowly
for the first 4 inches. Do 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps increasing 2.5 to 5 pounds each set.
One arm dumbbell curl focuses on the outer upper biceps if you lean outward as you curl.
As the dumbbell clears the side or your leg in curling upward start supinating your wrist
(turning outward) as the dumbbell continues upward. At finish position tense the biceps
while keep wrist straight and then lower slowly pronating wrist back to start position. Be
sure to lower the weight slowly for the first several inches on the way down and do 3
sets of 12, 10, 8 reps per set increasing the weight 5 pounds each set.

Reverse curl with EZ curl bar is being done by Christine in the background while Frank
uses the EZ curl bar over the preacher bench. Both variations work the lower
biceps/forearm tie in and is a very effective shaping movement. So if you have access to a
preacher curl bench you can introduce this variation. Be careful not to curl the weight up
too far as it will lose tension by falling inward at the top of the movement. Do three sets
of 15, 12, 10 reps increasing weight each set by a few pounds. This exercise can also be
done using a floor pulley.
Gripper is a good way to finish off your forearm routine, pictured is the Iron Man Super
Gripper which is the best one on the market because it is fully adjustable by moving the
springs. I like doing 3 sets of 20 reps with each hand to finish off my arm workout.

Follow this program for a month doing it in single set fashion and when you feel
like it you can superset some of the exercises:
Parallel dips supersetted with lying triceps extension
You can even superset pressdowns with kickbacks to enhance triceps definition.
Barbell curl supersetted with face down incline dumbbell curl
EZ bar reverse curl supersetted with gripper.
You can also do triceps/biceps supersets:
Lying triceps extension supersetted with barbell curl
Face down incline curl supersetted with pressdown or kickbacks.

The Advanced Routine is a specialization program done three times a week. Training
arms this often will increase definition so after you’ve been doing it for a month you may
want to cut back to working arms twice a week which really is enough when combined
with other upper body workouts.

Triceps
Reverse triceps dip
Overhead cable extension
One arm dumbbell extension
One arm cable kickback

Biceps
Preacher cable curl
Dumbbell incline curl
One Dumbbell front raise
Close grip chin up

Forearms
Hammer curl
Wrist curl behind back
Reverse triceps dip can be done using the Right Angle attachment to the Leg Blaster or
simply by holding on to the long side of a flat bench. Dip down as low as you can go
and then straighten your arms to move upward tensing the triceps at the top of the
movement. Do 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps with some weight attached around waist as you
et stronger and increase the weight 5 pounds each set. A good substitute for this exercise
is a dip machine if you have access to one.

Overhead cable extension works well as an isolation movement following triceps dips.
You can experiment with an overhead pulley at different heights starting with using a lat
machine as show above. As in all triceps exercises keeping elbows pointed outward
works outer triceps, keeping elbows pointed backward works back or posterior triceps.
Do 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps increasing weight 5 pounds each set.
One arm dumbbell extension is my favorite exercise for developing the long rear head of
the triceps. This is a large triceps head that adds significant size to the triceps when
developed. The key is to lower the dumbbell as low as it can go behind the head, even
lower than shown in the second photo above. Holding on to a support with one hand
while leaning back slightly with upper body will enable you to stretch lower. Do three
sets of 12, 10, 8 reps increasing weight by 2.5 to 5 pounds each set and hold one arm
shoulder stretch 15 seconds with each arm between sets.

One arm cable kickback – one dumbbell kickback is show above but position is same as if
a cable handle were held in each hand. When a cable is used the effect is like doing a one
arm triceps pressdown. You get a more focused effect working one arm at a time but it
takes twice as long. It’s a good idea to some one arm isolation movements in your arm
program. Do 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps each set increasing weight 2.5 pounds each set.
Preacher cable curl works the lower biceps. Be sure to keep the wrist straight throughout
the entire movement. Curl the bar up to the chin and pause at the point of greatest
tension. If you turn your wrist in you will transfer tension to the forearms so keep ‘em
straight and do not ‘over curl’ past the point of tension. Hold for one second and lower
very slowly for the first 4 inches. Do 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps increasing weight 5 pounds
each set.

Incline dumbbell curl is one of the best exercises for upper outer biceps, the key is not to
“over curl”. Do not curl the dumbbells up much higher than the photo to the right above
because you will lose tension on the biceps if you do. Keep upper arms pressed against
your sides and the bench, curl up to point of peak tension, hold of half a second and
then lower very slowly for the first 4 inches on the way down. Experiment with different
angles between 30 and 60 degree inclines. Do 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 reps increasing the
weight 5 pounds each set.
Dumbbell front raise works the front deltoid/upper biceps tie-in. I prefer holding one
dumbbell resulting in a neutral grip which isolates the front deltoids and hits the upper
out biceps. Holding dumbbells as in the first photo in an overhand grip will work the
deltoids more but the upper biceps less, so best to use the one dumbbell method. Do
three sets of 12, 10, 8 reps working up in weight 5 pounds each set.

Close grip chin whether done on the right angle attachment of the Leg Blaster pictured
above or with an under grip on an overhead bar works the biceps strongly, especially if
you hold the finish position tensing the biceps for a full second each rep. Do the
movement smoothly and slowly for 12, 10, 8 reps and increase weight by putting a plate
on you lap or a smaller plate stuck in your shorts.
And now forearms:
Dumbbell Hammer curl works the biceps and top section of he forearm and will
strengthen grip as well. Dumbbells with thicker handles are better for this, my DBs are
1.25 inches in diameter. Do 3 sets of 15, 12, 10 reps increasing weight 5 pounds every set.

Wrist curl behind back is similar to regular wrist curls and doesn’t hit inner elbow as
much. A fat sleeve bar is best for this exercise but a 5 foot Olympic bar works well too.
Not going too heavy is a good idea to target underside of the forearms and 2 sets of 20
to 30 feels good.
Triceps Super Sets
Reverse dip supersetted with overhead cable extension
One arm dumbbell extension supersetted with one arm db or cable extension

Biceps Super Sets

Dumbbell incline curl supersetted with One dumbbell front raise

Forearms super sets

Dumbbell Hammer curl supersetted with Barbell wrist curl behind back

Triceps/Biceps Super Sets

Reverse triceps dip supersetted with Close grip chin
Preacher cable curl supersetted with Overhead cable extension
One arm dumbbell extension supersetted with One arm dumbbell curl
You can reverse the order of the exercises in each superset and do the exercise first
you need most for your specialization. Feel free to experiment with different
combinations of exercises in your super sets to add variety to your ongoing workouts.
You have all the weight training movements necessary to build great arms. Keep records
and take photos of your arms over time (along with full body photos).
Build your arms and have fun!

Frank shows impressive arm development at 72