4 ARM DAY Mistakes I Wish I Fixed Earlier (SLOWING Your Gains!)
Failing to vary arm angles is one of the most common arm day mistakes. But the biceps and the triceps are composed of multiple heads which can each be selectively emphasized based on your arm angle. A 2019 study found that subjects who performed a biceps workout with different arm angles were not only able to achieve the same amount of volume as the group who did traditional biceps curl with the elbows by the sides, but also experienced significantly higher overall activation from the session! To experience faster arm growth, you should pick 1 curl where your elbows are behind your body, 1 curl where your elbows are by your sides, and 1 curl where your elbows are in front of the body for your biceps training. And then for your triceps, pick 1 exercise where your elbows are held overhead, 1 exercise where your elbows are by your sides, and then 1 pressing movement, for example.
The next arm day mistake killing your gains has to do with your exercise order. Research has consistently shown that lifters get better gains in the muscles that are trained early on in their workout. So, instead you want to alternate between the muscle you start with every week. This allows for a more balanced development of both muscles overtime. Or, you can also perform your biceps and triceps exercises in a superset fashion. But, you need to make sure that you know how to perform supersets before doing so. If you don't, be sure to check out my past video (linked below) on this - it'll help you out greatly.
The next common mistake, when it comes to how to build bigger arms, is sacrificing form for weight. Using a weight that you can’t control and have to resort to momentum to move does more harm than good. That’s because it shifts tension - and, therefore, gains - away from the arms. So, you need to put the ego aside. Worry less about how heavy you’re lifting. Instead, concentrate on actually using and fatiguing the biceps and triceps. And that is always most effectively accomplished by using a weight that you can control.
And the last mistake you need to avoid when it comes to how to get bigger arms has to do with your rest times between sets. A 2016 systematic review showed that on average, resting at least over a minute between sets led to almost 40% greater muscle growth when compared to resting just under a minute. More specifically, though, a couple of recent studies indicate that for single-joint exercises, like most arms exercises, you want to aim for roughly 2 minutes of rest between sets. So, when it comes to how to gain arm mass, I'd recommend that you rest for approximately 2 minutes in between sets or incorporating supersets for your tricep and bicep exercises.
