You want a pump that will completely blast your arms. You want them to grow immediately, filling out the sleeves and giving you an air of confidence you haven’t felt since your first kiss in 10th grade (lol). We get asked quite a bit, “Is there something we can do to grow our arms immediately?”

Absolutely. Check it out today!

With athletes training on the go, many professionals only having 30-40 minutes to get their work done and many young kids coming in for training after a long day of school, we have mustered up an old school classic to smash gains. This is a principle that has been tried and true for my own personal training over the last 8 years.

Running three businesses and having four kids can be extremely difficult. Running from meeting to meeting and having to take care of the kids to provide some relief for my wife has guided me toward the sweet Tri-Set. Tri-sets are set up to hit muscles from various positions, to get A LOT of work done in a short period of time while targeting various weaknesses in each particular muscle group.

Let’s walk through a full blown system of tri-sets.

The first portion of the tri-set is the stimulator, the movement that will lead to the greatest amount of recruitment. This is the exercise that can use the most weight. If you recall back to our Positions of Flexion blog, you can comprehend where those various points are going to be held. For exercises like bize and trize, the mid-range movements can help the targeted muscles grow quite a bit.

The mid-range for the triceps will be based around movements like the close grip bench while the mid-range movements for the biceps will be movements like barbell curls or preacher curls. These are movements that the body can handle quite a bit of weight and usually will involve more than one joint which can lead to greater hormone release.

The stretched position is where the tricep or biceps will be FULLY lengthened. My adage: “Lengthening is strengthening!”

During this position, the bicep or tricep will be lengthened tremendously, forcing even further motor unit recruitment and greater muscle fiber stimulation. Movements for the bicep would be along the lines of incline curls while miracle gro’s and telle extensions would be the exercises used in the stretched position. These movements are incredible and lead to a feeling of tension in the muscle group while also developing strength. Using the myotatic reflex from the stretched position can also lead to even further stimulation.

The stretched movements get executed and then lead into the contracted positions.

The contracted position should be viewed as the finishing blow to size growth. The fibers and units have been fully stimulated and now it’s time to fatigue them! A fiber is not trained unless it is fatigued! Think about the classic contracted positions for the biceps and the triceps.

In the biceps, movements like spider curls or concentration curls are the contracted movement of the arm flexors. This is when the bicep contracts and the load should be close to or next to the forehead. For the triceps, the arm should be behind the torso in a fully extended position. This can be something like Ghostface Kickbacks. Remember, this movement is not about the weight, it’s about the PUMP!

Let’s set up a workout now. This will be fun and simple and I want to hear how YOKED you feel in the comment section below! Let’s hit the triceps first:

1A) Close Grip Bench 5 x 6-8 (mid-range)

1B) Telle Extensions 5 x 10-12 (stretched)

1C) Ghostface Kickbacks 5 x 25 (contracted)

Make sure to rest 20-30 seconds between each movement and then 3-4 minutes between full sets. Focus on recovery to ensure you feel strong heading into the bicep tri-set.

1A) Barbell Curl 5 x 9 (mid-range)

1B) Incline Curl 5 x 12 (stretched)

1C) Spider Curls 5 x 20 (contracted)

The pump will be real and soreness should be quite prevalent after this session!

Use tri-sets when you are on a time crunch or need a stubborn group of muscles to grow! The tri-set is incredibly effective at growing strength AND leading to gains in mass. Make sure to follow the principles of flexion and extension so the movements are chosen in proper order and the gains will follow.