Build Bigger Biceps With This Combination

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.

Arm Combination for Building Big Biceps

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

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

Will Grip Training Help Build Forearm Size?

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August of Arms 2015

August of Arms

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.

August of Arms – The Beginning

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…

August of Arms – Re-Measure Days

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.

August of Arms – Performance Emphasis

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:

• Biceps High Weight Strength Endurance: 135-lb Barbell Curl for Max Reps
• Biceps Low Weight Strength Endurance: Poundstone 100-rep Barbell Curls AFAP
• Triceps High Weight Strength Endurance: Close Grip Bench with Bodyweight for Max Reps
• Triceps Low Weight Strength Endurance: 30lb 1 Arm French Press – 100 Reps AFAP

August of Arms – Before and After

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

Growing up with a steady feed of wrestling during my younger years, I always wanted to build up my own big set of arms.

Bank Rolls Do Not Build Biceps.
-Ultimate Warrior-

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

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:

31 Days of Arms – August 2014

Brad Martin and Jedd Johnson

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.”

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.

Guidelines for August of Arms

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

Build Big Arms and Strong Wrists

Superstar Billy Graham

One of my overall goals is to build my arms up to 20″ cold (no pump).

The way I see it, if you are going to get big, you might as well build strength to go along with it.

And if you are going to be strong, then by all means get as big as you can.

With these things in mind, I give you Scale Weight Curls.

A Scale Weight is a block-shaped weight that is used in industrial settings where scales are used.

These weights are calibrated to specific measurements and have handles so that they can be placed on the scale quickly and easily in order to test that a scale is reading accurately.

How to Perform Scale Weight Curls

Scale Weight Curls can be done like any other curl. They can be done free-standing or braced, and can be done in alternating style or both at the same time.

For me, performing them standing has gotten too easy, so I have been doing them in more of a Preacher Curl style, off my Glute Ham Machine. This allows me to keep the movement more concentrated (although cheating is not completely eliminated).

Also, what I look for is to try to keep my wrist in a neutral position throughout the full range of motion. This strengthens the wrist a bit more.

I can usually get up to 3 extra reps per set if I let my wrist buckle, so once I feel that I am losing my neutral position and breaking into ulnar deviation, I generally just stop the set.

Here is a video showing some recent Scale Weight Curls.

Scale Weight Curls

Scale Weights are somewhat hard to come by, because they are a specialized tool, sort of like anvils, and they can be cheap, but I have been lucky enough to score a couple over the years.

Believe me, the collection of grip tools I have amassed has taken me literally years to develop, tons of time to research, and of course, big expenses in order to build.

If you can’t find Scale Weights, another alternative is to try and curl your Kettlebells. Since the kettlebell handle sits out away from the rest of the bell, they will actually be much tougher to curl, and the weights will drop, but you will still get the Leverage Curl effect.

Still, I like the Scale Weight Curl a little better than Kettlebell Curls, just because I can use a bit more weight to challenge the biceps more, while also challenging my wrists.

To take it even further, you can attempt to curl your Scale Weight or Kettlebll in a supinated position. When you do this, you will have to CRUSH DOWN on the handle BIG TIME, or else you won’t be very successful.

I hope you enjoy this variation of Curls.

For more sinister ideas on how to build crazy arm strength, check out Call to Arms.

All the best in your training,

Jedd