Q: I’m using the Direct/Indirect 4X Mass Workout [pages 30-32], so do I only do delts/arms once a week on Wednesday. My arms lag, and I think they need more. I’ve seen you recommend another arm workout on the weekends. I can’t do that, so I’m thinking about adding a biceps and triceps exercise to my Monday and Friday workouts, pushdowns after chest, and concentration curls after back. What do you think?
A: For readers unfamiliar, let’s first outline the Direct/Indirect 4X Mass Workout split and how we use it…
Monday: Chest, Back, Abs
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Delts, Arms
Thursday: Off
Friday: Chest, Back, Abs
Because your triceps are heavily involved in pressing for your chest, you’ve essentially done midrange triceps work. Doing a 3X or 4X sequence of triceps pushdown after your last chest exercise is an excellent solution for huge arms.
The same for back and biceps—all the pulldowns and rows for back have blasted your bi’s with compound midrange work. Using a contracted-position exercise for biceps, like concentration curls, after back work should help you build some seriously huge arms.
For the uninitiated, 4X is taking a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10; rest 30 to 40 seconds, then do 10 more—and so on until you complete four sets. You go all out on your fourth set, and if you get 10 reps, you either add weight at your next workout or go for 4×11.
The next question is, Should you add those arm exercises on Monday AND Friday (see the split above)? That may be too much. We suggest adding only to Friday, the workout after your off day—and see if you get a growth surge. Right after a complete off day, your muscles and nervous system will be more replenished.
You can also rotate in different arm exercises—for example, overhead extensions or lying extensions instead of pushdowns and incline curls or preacher curls instead of concentration curls. Varying the stress angle will bring in different fibers for new size in different areas of the target muscle…
For example, lying extensions primarily target the long head of the triceps for more sweep. Pushdowns tend to hit more of the outer-triceps head for more width from the front. (For more on what exercises work which areas best, see the X-traordinary Arms e-book—complete, full-range workouts included for every muscle too.)
Keep rotating exercises and you’ll soon turn your guns into cannons.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Get X-traordinary Arms FREE
For proven arm-building routines, Positions-of-Flexion programs, details on which exercises are best for peak, width and sweep, as well as loads of tips to grow your guns, add the X-traordinary Arms e-book to your mass-building library for FREE when you get it with The Anabolic After-40 Muscle-Size Manual. It comes with 3 FREE bonuses—“20 Pounds in 10 Weeks Blueprint,” “Anabolic After-40 Bodyweight Edition,” and “X-traordinary Arms.” Add them all to your mass-building library for a limited-time price ($100 value) of ONLY $15 HERE.
