Gentlemen, it’s time to get your arms in shape for spring and summer — they’re one of the sexiest parts of your body, especially if you live in Oregon, Utah, Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Maryland.
You’re not a piece of meat! But getting toned arms would be nice.
The Manual enlisted the help of Jimmy Velez, New York Health & Racquet Club trainer, to teach us five simple arm workouts that will have you ready to suns-out-guns-out within a month. (Take one look at Velez’s Instagram and you’ll see what we mean. This dude is jacked.)
“But I do biceps at the gym,” you may be whining. Well, that’s just one way you’re doing it wrong.
“There are two common mistakes made when training your arms,” Velez warns. “The first one is over-emphasizing your biceps. The tricep takes up two-thirds of your arms and are composed of three different muscles, which are a key component in giving your arms a fuller look. The second equally fatal mistake is doing isolation arm exercises prior to compound exercises. Compound exercises are full body and/or multi joint workouts. An example of this would be doing curls before chin ups. During your workout, start with your bigger movements and work your way to the smaller, more isolated ones.”
THE SLEEVELESS WORKOUT
Barbell Bicep Curls
Sets: Four reps of 15.
Execution: Grasp a pull-up bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip. With elbows to side, raise the bar until forearms are vertical. Lower until arms are fully extended. Repeat 14 times. Rest. Start your second set.
Skull Crushers
Sets: Four reps of 15.
Execution: Lie back on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Hold the weights over your chest, palms facing each other. Bend your elbows and lower the weights to the sides of your head. Return to start. Repeat movement 14 times for one rep.
Dumbell Alternate Curl
Sets: Four reps of 12.
Execution: Stand up straight with a dumbbell in each hand at arm’s length. Keeping the upper arms stationary, exhale and curl the weights while contracting your biceps. Inhale and slowly begin to lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. Repeat 11 more times for one rep.
Underhand Kick Backs
Sets: Four reps of 15.
Execution: Stand up holding a dumbbell in each hand and bend over to a parallel position. Turn your palms to face in front of you and, keeping your upper arms against your sides, extend your elbows until reaching a full contraction of the tricep. Repeat 14 times and rest to complete one rep.
Standing Cable Rope Tricep Extension
Sets: Four rep of 15.
Execution: Stand facing the rope pulley and put a desire weight that you can comfortably do 15 reps. Keep your elbows to the side of your torso and fully extend down and squeeze your tricep at the bottom. Pause for 2 seconds. Let your hands come up to chest level. Repeat the movement another 14 times and rest. Three more reps to go …
Clean up post-workout and bask in the afterglow “pump.” Remember to fuel up to stay strong for the next workout. If you start at the time of publication and complete this exercise two-to-three times a week, and Velez says you’ll be in sleeveless shape by mid-April.