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The 2021 version of August of Arms is going to be completely INSANE!
It’s gonna be the best time you’ve had training all year long, and the 31 Most INTENSE Days of Your LIFE!
If you’re ready to take on the challenge, put your info in the box below.
This will ensure you’re among the FIRST ONES on the list who get access to August of Arms 2021!
Hey DIESELS!
Today, I’m going to share with you one of the Finishers from the 2021 August of Arms Program – it’s one I came up with years ago, and I just recently added it back into my program.
This is called Rope Curl-ups, and yesterday I did these with more weight than I ever have.
It’s nice to know that all the Arm Training I’ve been doing has paid off in MORE STRENGTH.
Soon, it will be time to make these things SWELL UP BIGGER THAN EVER!
The 2021 version of August of Arms is going to be completely INSANE!
It’s gonna be the best time you’ve had training all year long, and the 31 Most INTENSE Days of Your LIFE!
If you’re ready to take on the challenge, put your info in the box below to make sure you’re the FIRST ONES on the list who get access to August of Arms 2021!
I can’t wait to do this program, and I hope you’re just as excited as well.
Thanks and all the best in your training!
NAPALM
One of the things you need to have, if you want to make people take notice of your gains is a big set of arms.
If you want a set of arms, I don’t care what anybody else says, you need to pack a lot of volume into a short amount of time in order to get a killer pump.
I’ve got a couple exercises that work great for producing a lot of volume for the biceps.
This combination of exercises utilizes two pieces of equipment that are commonly found in most gyms, and if you do these back to back, I think you’re gonna really like the way it makes your biceps feel.
The first exercise is the Reverse Curl. I like to do this with the EZ Bar, because it doesn’t bother my wrists or elbows. When you do curls this way, you get the benefit of working the biceps, as well as the brachioradialis.
The second exercise is an Overhead Curl. You’ll want a bar that rotates, if you can get one to optimize it in my opinion. The nice thing about this movement is that the biceps are starting out in a flexed position with the arms overhead, so it’s different from most other biceps exercises.
The video below shows how to pair these exercises together.
Remember, you want to do these two movements with minimal rest. This makes the arms work harder and keeps the arm pump going strong.
If you like this combo, then check out the August of Arms program for even more sick ideas for building big arms.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
In 2014, I began doing month-long periods of specialization training to bring up specific parts of my body.
After doing August of Arms in August and Legtember during September, I was getting messages every day from people asking me to set them up with similar programming.
So, once October hit, I knew it was time to put something more formal together, and with that, Yoketober was born!
That was without a doubt one of the funnest months of training I’ve ever had, and I must say I thought I saw some pretty darn good gains too!
Since then, Yoketober has been a staple of my training, every Fall.
But this year, I wanted to shake things up.
I wanted to go through Yoketober, totally disassemble it, and put it back together to breath new life into it.
And now, I honestly feel that Yoketober is the best it’s ever been.
So, I’m having a special sale for the last few days here in September, so you can get the new and improved Yoketober for a special price.
And, if you have picked up Yoketober in the past, I’ve got an even better deal for you – all you need to do is contact me through email, Facebook, etc, and we can set it up.
You’re gonna love Yoketober, and the massive gains that come along with it.
Thanks and all the best in your training.
Jedd
I thought I’d do something I haven’t done in a while and just post some highlights I’m proud of for August.
Training has been GREAT this month. I look forward to August every month, due to August of Arms. I feel like it’s a chance for me to get away from the stresses of Grip and some of the frustrations of strength training, and just train for me. Almost like a vacation, even though I train just about every day.
I did take off 2 days in August. Both were Sundays. On one of them, I was a bit hung over from too much indulgence the day before and I knew the training was going to suck. The other day, I was extremely busy preparing content for Legtember, which is all ready now and you can pick it up through that link. After shooting 20+ leg videos, editing them, and uploading them for the Legtember exercise index, I was wiped and just couldn’t pull together enough energy for a respectable workout.
Here are some of the lifts I’ve been most happy with this month.
Max Alternated Dumbbell Curl
One of my ultimate goals is to curl 100lb dumbbells. I made a big PR this year, by finally curling my dumbbells that are marked “85s,’ but actually scale out at 91lbs apiece. I’ve tried at least a half dozen times to curl these sons of guns, and never been able to get past parallel position, but they came up pretty strong earlier this month.
Blobzilla + 55lb Anvil by the Heel
I finally seem to have gotten through some index finger injuries. One that came all the way back into last August (2016) from breaking a nail in a strongman show, to the prep for Nationals in June 2017, on the Tips Tester. My fingers just do not like that piece. I haven’t been able to lift Blobzilla many times since about April due to my fingers hurting. The 55lb Anvil by the Heel – I threw that in just for some variety.
Runing Man Dumbbell Biceps Curls Challenge
My endurance has improved well over the course of the month. I really had to take a lot of breaks the first and second time I ran through this. I was “ON,” on this day though. I think I can shave it down to under 2 minutes, if I can manage to get through it with zero rest-breaks.
110 Dumbbell Bench Press x 16 Reps
Until I get heavier dumbbells, I’m shooting to build this up to a set of 20 reps. My long term goal for Dumbbell Bench Press is still 150s for a set of 10. I did a set of 3 near the end of July, while I was on vacation.
I’m extremely please with the results I’ve seen from this month’s arm training, especially in the performance department, and I hope all of you who picked up the August of Arms program are seeing the same kind of thing. I can’t wait until the month is over to get a measurement. I think I have a real good chance to hit the 20″ mark. It will also be re-test day on the 4 main movements, and I can see those going up BIG TIME.
To also have seen some resurgence in my Block Weight Strength, as well as improvement on the Dumbbell Bench Press – those are just sweet, sweet bonuses.
And of course, once September gets here, it’s time for Legtember, brother.
If you want in on that, go here => LEGTEMBER: Make Leg Day Great Again.
Thanks and all the best in your training.
Jedd
Last week, I tried curling 80lb Dumbbells for the first time in a little while. The cross-body tension had really been bothering my back for quite some time. But it was feeling pretty good here, recently so I gave it a run.
80lb Curl Initial Test
This test didn’t go very well. Maybe I wasn’t warmed up very well. Maybe I was kind of tired. Maybe something was just a little off, but I didn’t get very many reps.
80lb Curl Second Test
About a week later, I tried the 80’s again, and was pleasantly surprised with how many reps I got: 5 with the Left arm and 4 with the Right. No idea why my left is stronger or has better endurance, but it has been that way for a few months.
85lb Curl Initial Test
After the PR at 80, I figured I’d better try out the 85’s. I have never curled these 85’s before, and in fact have only been able to curl 85’s one other time, if memory serves.
I approach arms like this. Sure, I want them to be big, but I want them to be strong too.
That’s why I have a double-sided goal for my arm development of 20″ biceps, cold (no pump) and to one day be able to curl 100lb Dumbbells.
If you like the idea of building the arms for both size and strength, then grab one of the programs below, August of Arms, and Call to Arms.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
The official August of Arms period has come and gone, so I wanted to share with you my results.
First off, I’ll say that August was an absolute mess for me, as far as Arm Training goes.
A new contest, Living Legends, where big money was at stake, required a proper deload period, so I did no training for several days during the month.
I also hurt my right index finger early in the month, which made several exercises impossible without substantial pain, so I was relegated to repeating many exercises more times than I’d like.
On top of that, I couldn’t even train the Close-Grip Bench Press, one of the benchmark lifts of August of Arms.
All of this resulted in poorer overall performance than I have seen the last two years.
But hey, sometimes stuff happens and you have the make the most of what you can do and just move on.
August of Arms 2016 – Measurements
I failed to do pre-measurements of my biceps at the beginning of the month, so I do not know where I started the month (another mistake I made), although I do know that in March I measured my arms and both were right around 18.5 inches.
I ended this month at right around 19″ for both arms.
August of Arms 2016 – 135lb Barbell Curls – Max Reps
The first test was Barbell Curls with 135lbs for as many reps as possible.
I began the month with 7 reps on the 135lb Barbell Curl for Max Reps.
I was able to improve to 9 reps by month’s end. You’ll see the reps are much quicker at the end of the month, as technique improved, as well as strength.
August of Arms 2016 – 30lb French Press x 100 reps AFAP
This drill, while the lightest weight, is actually probably the hardest to get through, because the pump is pretty significant and the dynamic nature lights my triceps insertions up. I started the month off with a finish of 2:09.
By the end of the month, I saw a very decent improvement, completing all 100 reps in 1:50.
August of Arms 2016 – Poundstone Curls – Barbell x 100 reps AFAP
The next test was Poundstone Curls – curling an empty barbell for 100 reps as fast as possible without setting the barbell down.
To my surprise, without working the Poundstone Curl since last August or September, probably, I was able to get all the way to 100 reps without any breaks or pauses, motoring straight through in 2:00 flat. This was the fastest I’ve ever gotten this, according to my spotty records.
I was able to do the same thing at the end of the month, as well, shooting straight through all 100 reps in 1:38, just completely blowing away all the previous attempts I’ve ever taken.
The 4th test, which I didn’t do, was the Close Grip Bench Press. My pec insertions felt like they were on fire when I did a warm-up set of 225 at the beginning of the month, so I completely waived that off and didn’t do any Close Grip Press training during the month, although I did do some Dumbbell Crush Press throughout the month, which never hurt at all.
So, to wrap up, while I was disappointed in my arm measurement by the end of the month, it’s pretty hard to be upset with improvement across the board on the testing lifts.
There’s no doubt that August of Arms works, since all three years my performance measures went up and all three years I saw size improvements.
I’ll also say that this is the best my arms have felt in a while. Last year, I did something to my left biceps and forearm doing a heavy set of Reverse EZ Bar Curls, either near the tail end of August or sometime in September, and that bothered me for a looooong time. As a result, I didn’t do much arm work during the end of 2015 and throughout 2016, because so many movements irritated those areas.
The biggest disappointment for me though, was the fact I missed so many days. Sure, some of them were for good reasons, like the off-time I took to re-energize for Living Legends, but there were still a few days where I just didn’t get the work in.
The first day I missed stung me really bad, and felt like an absolute heel. Then the deload took place, when I was trying to get my index finger healed up, and with each day of no arm training, the sting was a little less, a little less, a little less.
It reminded me of skipping leg days back in college. You do it 2 or 3 Fridays in a row, and it gets easier to do every single time.
I don’t like that feeling, and thankfully, once Living Legends was done, I was able to get back in the groove. By the end of the month, I felt like a steam engine train, ready to conquer every corner and hill in my path, and I feel I finished on a high note.
In fact, I’m feeling very motivated to keep the arm work going.
I REALLY want 20″ arms.
The plan going forward is to hit biceps twice a week, and triceps, once a week.
The plan is to hit biceps on Mondays and Saturdays. Triceps will be Thursday or Friday mornings, along with Back, depending on which day it falls on.
I’m going to continue to work on a combination of Biceps Strength, which heavier weights and lower reps, and Biceps Volume with lower weights, higher reps, often done in combinations of 2 or 3 exercises.
I think with that sort of set-up, I’ll have plenty of time to recover between each arm workout, so I’ll be able to attack Arms hard on each of those days.
I’ll also do my best to re-measure every 2 weeks and re-test on Poundstone and 135lb Barbell Curls the last week of each month. I’m gonna have to choose a different Triceps exercise or two for those tests, since the Close Grips are bothering my pec and the One Arm French Press were bothering my Triceps tendons.
Stay tuned for more intense arm training coming your way soon.
All the best.
Jedd
August of Arms isn’t just about doing a bunch of volume in order to get the arms to swell up and get a bigger measurement. It’s also about building strength in addition to the size.
With that in mind, August of Arms has 4 separate testing exercises built into it based around performance.
So far, I have knocked out two of these. Unfortunately, I tried to do Bodyweight Close Grip Bench Press, and I couldn’t do it without pain. Something just wasn’t feeling right. But, I did take care of 2 out of the other 3: 135lb Barbell Curls for Max Reps and 30lb One Arm French Press for 100 reps, alternating as needed.
135lb Barbell Curls for Max Reps
30lb French Press – 100 Reps AFAP, Alternating Arms as Needed
The last test lift for me, Poundstone Curls, involves curling an empty 45lb Barbell for 100 reps as fast as possible. I haven’t tried this since last year at the end of August, so it’s gonna be interesting!
So, now the baselines are established, and it’s time to work my ass off throughout the rest of the month, to see increases in SIZE, STRENGTH, and ENDURANCE.
Stay tuned for more updates.
For more information on August of Arms, click the banner below.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
August of Arms, the month where we train arms in some form or fashion all 31 days during the month of August, is complete.
I first got the idea of training arms for a month straight from Dave Depew, an arm-wrestler friend of mine out in California. With the results he saw last year, I just HAD to try it and went for it wholeheartedly in August of 2014, and encouraged others around the world to join in via Facebook and other Social Media.
August of Arms 2014 was such a success, having added very nearly 1 full inch on my arms during August last year, I decided I was going to do it again in 2015. Only this time, since so many people asked me to provide workouts for them, I put together an entire month of workouts for August of Arms 2015.
I am getting reports in from others, slowly but surely, and will be posting them here on the site soon, but before I get to that, I wanted to show you my personal results first.
To begin, I started out the month, just a shade under 19 inches for each arm, which is extremely close to where I ended last year. A lot of people were of the thinking the gains wouldn’t stay, but it is apparent that they did from August 31, 2014 to August 1, 2015.
Unfortunately, I can’t find the pictures I took of my arms at the beginning of the month…
I did 2 re-measure days on August 10th and August 20th. On the 10th, I noted an increase of roughly 1/4″ on each arm, and by the 20th, I saw another 1/4″ added for 1/2″ total, two-thirds of the way through the month.
Here are the posts where I showed my re-measure pics:
Re-Measure Day 1 – August 10th
Re-Measure Day 2 – August 20th
With August coming a close, I did my 3rd re-measure day on August 31st, and the final measure is in the video below.
In addition to sheer size increases, I also set the program up to increase overall strength, using high-resistance, low-rep strength endurance as well as low-resistance, high-rep strength endurance, in order to put an emphasis on increasing performance, on top of the overall size.
For these tests, I chose 4 exercises:
In the below section, you’ll see the initial baseline test for each lift, followed by the re-test performance.
Part 1: Triceps High Weight Strength Endurance: Close Grip Bench with Bodyweight for Max Reps
Part 2: Biceps High Weight Strength Endurance: 135-lb Barbell Curl for Max Reps
Part 3: Triceps Low Weight Strength Endurance: 30lb 1 Arm French Press – 100 Reps AFAP
Part 4: Biceps High Weight Strength Endurance: 135-lb Barbell Curl for Max Reps (Again)
Part 5: Biceps Low Weight Strength Endurance: Poundstone 100-rep Barbell Curls AFAP
Part 6: The Measurements
As you can see, August of Arms 2015 was a success for me, in the way of size and strength (with the exception of the Barbell Curls). You’ll also see that August of Arms 2015 was also a success for many other individuals.
Just because August is over, don’t think you still can’t keep doing “August of Arms.” Some people got into it late and are yet to finish, so I expect to hear from more people about their gains and improvements.
Also, lifters are still picking up their copies of August of Arms in order to put together their month-long trek of Arm Training Specialization.
If you haven’t picked up August of Arms yet, it’s still available, and you can pick it up by clicking here: August of Arms – Arm Specialization Training.
Be sure to send in YOUR results from August of Arms when you’ve finished the program as well.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
With yesterday being August 10th, it was my first Re-Measure Day for August of Arms.
I was PSYCHED to report about a 1/4 inch improvement on each arm, especially since the first 7 days of the month I was on family vacation.
As a review, I started out at roughly 19 inches per arm and now I am at 19.25 inches. The still shots are in the video below.
On Saturday, I was driving back from the beach, so I was only able to get some high-rep band work in and missed the planned workout, so on Sunday I combined both Saturday’s and Sunday’s workouts and got a great session in.
Here’s a video of one of the exercises I did, called Arm Wrestler Dumbbell Curls. It was part of the Fame of Arms workout in the August of Arms program.
As you can see, Arm Wrestler Dumbbell Curls is all about strength. The dumbbell used was pretty heavy and the isometric hold at the half-way point was very demanding and produced a different kind of pump in the arms.
The way I see it, it’s still early in the month. Plenty more time to produce add size to the guns.
Being home, I will be able to get better quality workouts than when I was on vacation, so I’m really looking forward to the next 2/3 of the month!
It’s not too late to pick up your copy of August of Arms. So what if you’re late to the ball game.
Your month of August of Arms starts RIGHT NOW!
Pick up your copy of August of Arms TODAY.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
When set out to put August of Arms 2015 together, I wanted it to be something different.
Not just the same old arm training B.S. where it’s a bunch of endless reps, and all you’re trying to do is get a pump.
While the size is good, I always thought it was best to build some strength along with it.
So, I worked plenty of strength training into the August of Arms layout as well.
In fact, the first workout of August of Arms is a Testing Day where you get your baseline strength measurements.
There are 4 different movements that I chose. One low-volume test for both biceps and triceps, and one high-volume test for both biceps and triceps.
If you think that August of Arms is just the same old stuff regurgitated, then you’re wrong, brother. Period.
I needed to have these videos ready for the initial release of the product, so I shot them several days early.
Here’s how I did in my baseline arm strength and endurance tests.
Close Grip Bench Press – Bodyweight for Reps
Barbell Curl – 135lbs for Reps
One Arm French Press – 30lbs for 100 reps AFAP
Poundstone Curl – 45lbs for 100 reps AFAP
I thought, going in, that I had chosen some pretty good benchmark movements, and after going through them myself, I feel even more strongly that I picked good movements to track progress.
Throughout the month, aside from doing exercises that are going to add size to your arms, you’ll also be doing other lifts that contribute to your performance on these 4 key lifts.
I feel that this month’s program is gonna be awesome for you. It’s different from anything I’ve ever read or tried, and I think it’s going to bring about big results for you.
If you want to build bigger arms, then pick up August of Arms, today.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Growing up with a steady feed of wrestling during my younger years, I always wanted to build up my own big set of arms.
I grew up with guys like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, the Warlord, the Barbarian, Jimmy Snuka, and other wrestlers who were JACKED beyond belief. So I wanted to be big and muscular, too, with a THICK set of arms.
Unfortunately, I had no weights as a youngster and I was actually kind of lazy in high school, so I didn’t have much chance of building big arms until I was in college, playing baseball at Mansfield University.
That was when I met Scott Costa.
Scott was another one of the first-basemen on the team, and the first day of practice, I was instantly impressed with his muscular development. I had only ever met one dude in real life, before that who was actually muscular.
As a fan of weight training with no idea how to get started, I really looked up to him because I could tell he worked hard and knew what he was doing.
He was also a pretty funny dude. “Look at these aesthetics, Johnson. Aesthetics.”
I didn’t even know what that word meant at the time. All I knew is I wanted to build arms like his…
Once I started lifting, I was always serious about my arm training.
I never made it a habit to miss or skip arm workouts and took my training seriously, even though some people don’t even bother training arms, for whatever reason.
But last year, I decided to raise the intensity up a notch.
I was driving in the car on the way back from New Jersey with my long-time friend in lifting, Brad Martin, and we came up with the idea of training arms every day during the month of August. I’d first seen Dave Depew doing daily arm training, and after I saw his awesome results, I decided I wanted to try it.
So, I started posting about “August of Arms” here on the site, out on Facebook, and on some other forums and websites. Before I knew it, other people were joining in as well.
So, during August of 2014, I trained Arms every single day and I was very happy with the results. I added about an inch to each arm, going from right around 18 to right around 19 inches. I heard from several others who said they saw good gains as well.
But the other thing I kept hearing a lot of was the fact that people wanted a program to follow. Some people felt like they were wandering around aimlessly without some guidance. Some were adding stuff in at the end of the workout and getting tired of the same old stuff. Others felt like they could have gotten better results with more of a plan.
That kind of feedback came to me enough times that I decided I would put something together for August of Arms 2015.
So, for the majority of July, I have been working hard to put together an awesome month of training for you.
August of Arms contains 31 workouts, one for each day of the month of August, to help you both increase your arm size as well as your strength.
While being big has always been an interest of mine, I always liked the idea of building strength along with it too.
And since some people got tired of plugging the same handful of exercises into the end of their workouts last year, I made sure to mix things up this year, adding 69 different exercises into the program.
There’s even more great stuff I packed into the program. If you want to find out more about it, and especially if you want to add Noticeable Mass to your arms this August, be sure to get August of Arms.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
If you want to build bigger arms, pack some size on those bi’s, and develop some thick triceps that hang right off your arm, then August of Arms is going to be the most productive, and probably the most fun, block of training you do all this year.
I’ve packed the program with all kinds of cool exercises – you won’t get bored doing the same stuff all the time, you can believe that.
Also, I’ve sprinkled in several cool challenges throughout the month.
“Attack the Stack” is my favorite challenge. I filmed the demonstrational video for it yesterday, and it was INTENSE.
Attack the Stack is similar to the old bodybuilding exercise called “Run the Rack,” which involves hitting a serious of dumbbells, one after the other, either up or down the dumbbell rack, or both.
“Attack the Stack” is different though. This one involves a cable machine, so it can be done at any commercial gym, like the vast majority of what I have planned for August of Arms.
I’m saving Attack the Stack for later on, but if you want to see one of the cool moves I’ve got for you, check out Ab Wheel Isometric Holds…
Might not look too tough, but try it pre-exhausted and for a few more reps, and it will blow your triceps up BIG TIME.
Here’s the thing about August of Arms, DIESELS.
This month is gonna be FUN.
Too often, I speak with coaches and lifters and it sounds like they DREAD their training, more than they LOOK FORWARD to it.
One of the biggest things I’ve done the last few years is I have made my training more enjoyable.
I don’t mean I go in there and screw around – not by any means.
But now, when I go into the weight room, I leave BETTER than when I went in.
I absolutely LOVE training, but there was a time during 2011 and 2012 where I HATED going into the gym.
You can’t be successful with your training, if you DESPISE even going to the gym.
Slowly, in late 2012 and even more so in 2013, I began changing my mindset about training.
It wasn’t ALL about stressing over the next competition anymore.
It wasn’t about hitting some crazy feat, or some far-off number on a certain lift.
It was about challenging myself, competing with myself, and actually having fun.
And lo and behold, these days, I’m stronger and performing better in just about EVERYTHING I could possibly want to anyway.
One of my biggest objectives with August of Arms is to make lifting FUN again for you, all while helping you see as much progress and value out of your training as possible.
I hope you decide to come along for the ride, and if you want updates about the program, just add your info to the box below.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Last year, in May, I performed a Strongman Show during the Bodybuilding Contest at the Empire Classic Fitness Expo in Spokane, Washington.
I also assisted with several other events that were part of the Expo, including a Strongman contest, and that’s where I met Luke Ehlis, one of the competitors in the Strongman Contest.
Luke had been a bodybuilder prior to the Strongman Comp, and I was extremely impressed with his prowess in Strongman.
Let’s face it – you don’t often see competitive bodybuilders who are able to crossover in Strongman competition and excel, but Luke did.
What’s even more impressive, to me, about Luke is that he trains primarily in his garage, not some giant warehouse gym, not some fancy fitness center, but his own garage gym at his home.
I’ve stayed in touch with Luke since the contest and have an interview with him planned, and since then, I’ve enjoyed watching Luke’s videos on Instagram and Facebook, because the dude is an innovator.
One of the things I saw him do recently was what I refer to as a Pendulum Row. In a recent video, he attached a Bar to his Reverse Hyper device, and used the hanging weight as the resistance for his Bent Over Rows.
I thought that was awesome, because I knew it would feel completely different from a regular Bent Over Row.
This past weekend, my lifting partner, Lucas Raymond, and I got the chance to try out these Pendulum Rows, and they are KILLER!
Build Your Back with Pendulum Rows
These are so stinkin’ Intense, brotherrr! The swinging action of the Reverse Hyper makes the weight pull away from you at the highest point of the Row. What I was trying to do was to get a good, solid pause at the top of the movement, but it was HARD!
To challenge our grip more, we used the FBBC Crusher, which is a free-spinning thick bar handle, much more difficult to use than the Rolling Thunder, plus, we were flexing our wrist into a partial gooseneck position, which made these even more difficult to do.
I’m telling you right now, these are a WINNER for your back training. The way you have to brace your core on these is just plain sinister. You feel them BIG TIME in your back. Try them if you dare.
Stay tuned for an interview with Luke Ehlis, as soon as I can get my act together.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
P.S. August of Arms is coming. GET READY.
P.P.S. If you want even more cool ideas to build a bigger upper back and thicker set of traps, check out YOKETOBER:
Last week, I travelled to Juniata College, for the Juniata Strength and Conditioning Clinic.
Before Day 1, I hooked up with Jerry Shreck and Cody Miller, both from Bucknell Strength and Conditioning, and we hit a nice, quick, solid back workout.
It’s always fun to hit a workout in a different gym from time to time, because you get to try stuff you wouldn’t normally get to, especially when you usually train in a garage gym.
Here are some clips we got from this Big Back Workout. Believe me, my lats, posterior delts, and the rest of my back were PUMPED for hours from this one.
Warm-up 1 – Peg Board
It was a chore getting warmed up. We were rushed, hadn’t had any coffee, no breakfast, and got poor sleep, so the regular full-body joint mobility-style warm-up I am used to just wasn’t cutting it.
That’s when we spotted the Peg Board in the next room, and that’s when the blood finally started pumping.
What we did: +/- 3 sets each
Warm-up 2 – Freedom Climber
Right in the same room, on the same wall, even, Juniata had a “Freedom Climber.” I’ve never even heard of these before, let alone seen one, but we were both excited to try it out. With this one, the further you climb to one side, the quicker it turns. For me, the grip was no problem. The issue was the footwork – I couldn’t move my feet fast enough to stay on the holds. Really fun device – can’t imagine what it costs though.
What we did: +/- 3 sets each
Exercise 1 – Dumbbell Rows
Now, we were warm, so we headed back into the training center. We started off with Dumbbell Rows. I was interested in trying something heavy, upwards of 150, but the heaviest they had was 125, so I stuck with those and tried to keep the reps slow and controlled. This was great, my back was blown up.
What we did: 3-5 sets each of 8 to 10 reps, emphasizing control
Exercise 2 – Cable Pull-Downs
This might be one of the toughest Cable Pull-downs I ever tried. I rarely fail to get a rep on the full stack of a Cable Pull-down, but I literally could not do it on this piece. Jerry and I mixed up the tempo and range of motion of our repetitions on this one to try to mix things up and make our backs grow!
What we did: 5 sets each of 8 to 15 reps, manipulating ROM & tempo
Exercise 3 – Football Bar Curls
The Football Bar is something I don’t have in my gym, so I made sure to hit this before leaving. Naturally, we took it directly to the Squat Cage, the best place to hit Curls in the gym of them all.
What we did: 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps on each handle
Jerry and I packed this workout into about an hour or so, and I was very happy with it, especially considering the struggles we were having in getting rolling.
It was great training with Jerry, too. We always come up with some pretty intense stuff to push each other with. My only regret is that we didn’t have more time to work in some Trap work and some Triceps. Hopefully next time!
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Did you know that Jerry and I collaborated on a product a few years back? It’s called Deceleration Training and it will help you prevent ACL tears. Click the banner below to find out more:
Want to Build a Big Back, Traps, and Wide Shoulders? It’s time to get YOKED with Yoketober:
Elbow Pain can ruin your workout. When elbow pain gets in the way of your training like this, it can be hard to see the results that you want from your workout. To avoid elbow pain in my training, there are several handles that I use INSTEAD of doing them on the actual Pull-up Bar. This video shows you the handles I use to reduce elbow pain and make my Pull-ups virtually pain free.
Here are links to buy the devices shown in the video for pain free Pull-up training, as well
The Back Bull: I love this thing. It goes onto the bar easy and allows for both a near-overhand or near-underhand position, depending on which muscles you want to emphasize.
Perfect Pull-ups: Unfortunately, I can no longer find Perfect Pull-ups for sale. However, there is a tool out there called Stamina Rotating Handles that look very similar. What’s nice about these is that they allow for a bit wider grip.
Grapple Grips: To my surprise, I can not find these handles anymore either. That’s a shame because these handles could be used for Dumbbell Rows and Cable Rows, as well. A similar device you might want to try is the Grandfather Clocks from Rogue Fitness
Metolius Rock Rings: These tools are made for training the hands for the demands of climbing, but with the way they swivel while hanging from a bar, the make Pull-ups much more comfortable for the elbows.
All of these handles are very effective at reducing the pain you feel when doing Pull-ups and Chin-ups. If your back training seems to be suffering due to elbow pain, then give one of these a try and see if they can be effective at reducing elbow pain from Pull-ups as much as they have been for me.
Any questions on these tools, feel free to ask via the comments section below, email, or message.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Yoketober is in full swing.
This month, we are focusing on the Yoke – the Traps, Upper Back, Shoulders, and Triceps – the parts o fthe body that make up your outline and help you cast a big shadow.
The objective – To Develop Monster Mass by Halloween.
Yesterday was Yoketober 1st, so Workout #1 went down in the garage. It was my Upper Body Push Day, with Yoke work sprinkled in for seasoning.
#Yoketober Workout #1/31
In the past months of specialized training, #AugustOfArms and #Legtober, lots of people were requesting workout plans, but I didn’t work ahead those months.
Yoketober is different. I put together an entire ebook that includes a full month of training for you from Yoketober 1st to Yoketober 31st.
You can pick it up here for $19 through the end of the week: Yoketober – Monster Mass by Halloween
It’s time to fill that shirt up with some serious slabs of muscle.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Since August, I have been experimenting with 20 Rep Squats.
Performing 20 Rep Squats is a tactic that was made famous by many oldtime strongmen and other writers of yesterday.
The claim is that by performing 20-Rep Squats, you can put on substantial amounts of muscle mass.
Since that is one of my primary objectives right now, along with increasing full body strength, I decided to give 20-Rep Squats a try.
Now, from my understanding there are a couple of ways that 20 Rep Squats can be done. The method I am using is what was described to me by James Fuller, who actually is the one who made me consider doing these after all.
He suggests taking your 10-rep max weight in the Back Squat and performing 20 Reps with it. You rep out the first 10 Reps without rest, and then you finish with the last 10 Reps with any rest-pauses you need, but you absolutely do not set the bar down. It remains on your shoulders from the moment the set begins until you hit the 20-rep mark.
Other approaches exist. For instance, some teach rest-pausing as needed throughout the set. Others suggest taking as big of a breath as possible into the lungs before each repetition, in an effort to expand the rib cage as much as possible.
As far as expanding the rib cage, I have not researched that, but I will say that after my set of 20-Rep Squats, I do lie on a bench and perform chest stretches using the Dumbbell Pull-over movement.
Regarding MY 20-Rep Squat Sets
When you watch the videos below, take note that I am not using my 10-RM in any of them. There are a couple of reasons why…
1) I am always cautious of my back and I am siding toward being cautious. Nothing sucks more than being hurt and unable to train, especially when you know you could have prevented the injury by being cautious, so that is exactly what I am doing.
2) I do a great deal of Squatting BEFORE I do my 20-Rep Squat set. I pair Squatting with my gripper work and often do 8 to 10 work sets before my 20-Rep Squats, so I am already fatigued.
3) These 20-Rep Squats have essentially become my Squat finisher. These are the last thing I do before I move on to the next portion of my workout. My 10-RM is probably closer to 305 or 315.
Reading Sources for 20-Rep Squats:
My 20-Rep Squat Workouts
I did 20-Rep Squats one time back in like 2004 and hated them. I got extremely sore and it interrupted a whole week of my training, so I said to hell with them.
This time however, I really wanted to see what they could bring me, so I have stuck with them.
I plan on gradually moving up in weight and will eventually be up over 300-lbs with them, I am just taking my time.
I welcome comments, especially from those who have followed the program, and I would love to hear about your results.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Throughout the month of August, I trained arms every single day in order to bust through my current plateau and trigger a quick increase in arm size.
I called this August of Arms and used the hashtags #AugustOfArms & #31DaysOfArms when I put up updates on Facebook.
August of Arms:
The Tale of the Tape
I was successful in adding just under an inch to each arm over the course of the month. I took preliminary measurements and each arm was about 18″ on August 1st. I re-measured every 10 days.
August 1 Measurements:
By August 10th, I had added roughly a 1/2 inch to each arm. I saw no increase on August 20th, but on August 31st, when I remeasured again, each arm had increased to roughly 19″, cold.
August 10 Measurements (+/- 1/2″ Increase):
August 20 Measurements (No Change):
August 31 Measurements (+/- 1/2″ Increase):
This seems to have been a very common theme across the board as many, many lifters who approached and followed through the August Of Arms plan also saw solid increases of .5 inches to 1 inch and slightly above.
To really go out with a bang, on the 31st, I ended the month with a Big Arm workout, hitting both Biceps and Triceps with some of my favorite lifts from the great month of August.
Here are some of highlights from Workout 31 of #AugustOfArms
I am very happy with my results from this month-long experiment, and I plan on doing more focused training, just like this.
Stay tuned for more information on what is coming during September.
It is imperative you get your best email onto my newsletter, if you aren’t already.
The form at the top of the right-hand side bar will make sure you are notified every time I put up a new post on the site.
Also, make sure we are connected through Facebook and Twitter:
I will have more information coming your way soon.
All the best in your training,
Jedd
There are a couple of very sick, twisted and sadistic people out there who deserve to be punished severely.
They are Derek Poundstone and Jason Steeves.
Yes, that Derek Poundstone – the pro strongman competitor.
He’s the one that came up with this craziness.
The other one, Jason Steeves, is someone who I thought I was my friend, but now I know the truth – HE IS NOT – since he’s the one that introduced me to the challenge.
The way he put it, he was “helping me out” with a way to spice up my #AugustOfArms training this month.
But, I think he was actually trying to maim me, brother.
Apparently, for some reason, Derek Poundstone thought it would be a great idea to try to curl an empty barbell for 100 reps.
I guess he started doing this a couple years ago, once a month.
Well, up until a couple weeks back, I had steered clear of this challenge and knew nothing about it.
That’s where Jason Steeves comes in.
The conversation went a little something like this…
Jason: Hey Jedd, I see you’re doing #31DaysOfArms. Ever hear of Derek Poundstone’s 100-rep Empty Barbell Challenge?
Jedd: No man. What is that?
Jason: Oh, just try and curl a barbell 100 times. You’ll love it. It will change your life. Best thing ever. It will help you sleep better at night. You’ll never want to put sugar or salt on your food ever again. You’ll start getting discounts on your meals at fancy restaurants, and so on…
Jedd: OK, I’ll give them a try.
So I moseyed on down to the gym that night and tried it, and I couldn’t believe the PAIN in my biceps.
I couldn’t believe how quickly it went from being easy and feeling like a complete waste of time, to being so ridiculously hard!
I had to double check and make sure Poundstone or Steeves hadn’t actually snuck into my gym and quietly slid a 45-lb plate on each end of the bar, brother!!!
I think the first time I tried it, I got 24 reps and I couldn’t believe how pathetic I felt.
I must have been having a bad day.
I HAD to try it one more time.
Here is the second day I tried the Poundstone Empty Barbell Curl Challenge:
So I post the video above and who comes and leaves a comment below? Jason Steeves himself.
Jason: “You had more Jedd!!! Where was the fire to blast out another 15? The last rep looked just as crisp as the first. If you were really bagged physically I would’ve seen them slowing down. Get mad!! Get your 50!!!!”
Jedd: “I will do it again tonight duuuuuuude!”
True to my word, I picked my poison again and hit the challenge that night.
Here it was:
And just like someone who is hooked on crystal meth, now, I can’t stop doing these.
Just like someone who gets hooked on pain killers, and they need more and more and more, now I even find myself trying this challenge WITH EXTRA WEIGHT ON THE BAR.
Do you see how crazy this is?
And now, just like a drug dealer who pushes their addiction on others, I’m pushing this Poundstone Barbell Curl Challenge on YOU, brother.
Honestly, just like I talk about in Call to Arms, I don’t like mindless reps when training PERIOD, let alone when training arms.
I don’t like just standing there and curling weight just to hit a target number.
I like squeezing each rep and having control over the bar or dumbbell, so that each rep has a purpose.
But this Poundstone Empty Barbell Curl 100-Rep Challenge thing has been different.
I want to keep on pushing the envelope to see where it will take me.
If you want a crazy, illogical, bicep curl challenge, then give this a try my friend!
Let me know what you think.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
P.S. Regardless of the fact that the barbell is empty, it KILLS my wrists and forearms if I don’t use Globe Gripz. If Barbell Curls hurt you, you need to get some of these life savers.
P.P.S. I have no heat against Derek Poundstone or Jason Steeves regarding this Barbell Challenge. That was all a work.
I was recently talking with my old friend, Brad Martin of Titan Strength in Horseheads, NY.
As it turns out, he is just as OBSESSED with Arm Training as I am, and we cam eup with a pretty crazy idea.
Inspired by a friend of mine, Dave Depew, owner of Grinder Gym in San Diego, CA, we are going to embark upon a new training program for the month of August.
We are calling it “31 Days of Arms.”
Starting August 1st, and going through the entire month, every single day we will be hitting some form of Arm Training.
I want to do this to set a foundation for my Arm Training Initiative of reaching 20″ Guns while cold.
What I mean by that is I want to reach the point that my arms are 20inches, just walking around.
Not during the workout, not with a pump, and not after training, but ANYTIME during the day.
Brad and I were talking about it on Facebook and we already have one guy interested in joining us, Nate Gagnon, an Arm Wrestler from New England.
So, do you want to be a part of this “August of Arms” initiative?
If so, leave a comment below or get a hold of me in some other fashion.
We are going to take before and after pics, measurements, and we are going to document our workouts on Facebook.
I hope to hear from you soon.
All the best in your training.
Jedd