January 5th: Arms workout

I had scheduled a run for today but this was never going to happen given the tightness and fatigue I felt in my quads when I woke up, I swapped things around last-minute and set off for a workout I was very excited about. The last two workouts have shown me how much I can cram into an hour, arms are also an area for which I am nowhere near peaking just yet. I’m planning a few weeks of high volume before I switch to maybe 8 sets of curls with my thick bar plus some bench dips.

First off was a triceps pushdowns and extensions compound sets, 3 sets of 15 reps, 30 seconds rest. I didn’t feel much during this as I was too preoccupied with things on my mind from earlier in the day, my left elbow was a little sore too. Things suddenly got better when I moved onto close-grip bar curls, 4 sets of 10 reps, like the front squats this is another exercise I never really took to back in the day, it’s a shame as I should have made this a priority in my workouts to address an obvious weak point in my biceps.

1-arm dumbbell triceps extensions next, 3 sets of 10 reps, no rest between sets, many view this as finishing exercise but the long head of my triceps are still catching up so I like to do these when I’m fresh, I’m noticing an increase in muscularity with every passing week with these.

Incline dumbbell curls and incline dumbbell extensions superset, 3 sets of 10 each, 30 seconds rest, has been kept from the last workout, I’m still gaining. My triceps felt stronger today, nice full range of motion.

1-arm dumbbell preacher curls, 3 sets of 10 reps, felt great today, I had previously been a little disappointed in these especially when they used to be one of my all-time favourites. I used to train with a Russian guy who’d rep out with 36 kilo dumbbells, he had 19 inch arms and in pretty good condition too. Natural too.

I added a few sets of the overhead cable extensions, 3 sets of 10 reps, not sure if I’ll use them again next week, although this exercise still feels great.

Ich heiße Arnold

I was beginning to blow up about now but still felt like there was something left in the tank, next standing dumbbell curls compounded with standing hammer curls, 3 sets of 10 each, 60 seconds rest. I struggled to get much more than 5 reps of hammer curls on the last set. The best of the workout by far.

I finished off with reverse barbell curls, 3 sets of 10, light and strict. I could have happily gone home now without training forearms, but my most lagging body part by far is finally gaining so I couldn’t leave without doing a few sets of dumbbell wrist curls, 3 sets of 10 reps.

A tremendous workout, one which brought back a lot of happy memories.