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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
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
I completed my August of Arms Pre-Test Results this past weekend. I thought I’d share them with you. The idea is to improve performance on all 4 of these events by the end of the month.
I went ahead and did this one over, so it was more accurate. I used 255 pounds this time and actually got more reps than when I shot the demo video a week prior.
For the first time ever, I successfully curled my dumbbells that are marked 85’s but actually weigh over 91lbs apiece. They are a tough set to curl, and I’m stoked to start off the month of Arm Training with a big lifetime PR.
This is really the only lift from testing day that I was disappointed with. I figured I’d end up over 150, but failed on 140 3 different times.
For this one, you take half your bodyweight or 125lbs – whichever you prefer. I chose 133lbs, mainly because it’s easy to load.
Overall, I’m happy with my testing. I’m really looking forward to this month of training, no doubt about. Lots of good things gonna be happening!
Stay tuned.
Jedd
August of Arms 2017 has been updated and is ready to go.
This year’s program is totally overhauled, in an attempt to bring you the best version of August of Arms ever.
What started in 2014 as just “going to the gym and doing whatever random stuff I could think of,” has gradually evolved into a more and more purposeful month of training, which is also full of fun.
This year’s program is based around a new set of Test Lifts. I modified them this year for a few reasons:
The training you this month is based around improving your performance in the Test Lifts, helping you build bigger, stronger arms, and get the most out of your training, with purposefully selected exercises.
August of Arms truly is the Ultimate Arm Training Specialization Program.
To give you an idea of some of the new stuff I’ve got planned for you, I thought I’d post some of my own Test Lifts.
The first Test Lift I’d like to share with you is the Bodyweight Close Grip Bench Press. I plugged this one into the August of Arms program because for a time earlier this Spring, I did a mini-run at the 225lb Bench Press for Reps, like is done in the NFL combine. I liked it so much, that I built it into AOA 2017.
Bodyweight Close Grip Bench Press
Here is my official Pre-Test video for the Bodyweight Close Grip Bench Press.
Don’t worry if you can’t do your bodyweight on the Close Grip Bench. I go over some alternatives you can take in August of Arms.
I’ll be sharing more Testing Results as I complete the Pre-Test Lifts for August of Arms.
If you’re ready to build BIGGER, STRONGER Arms, then pick up your copy of August of Arms 2017 today.
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
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
Today is August 20th, so I did a Re-Measure Day.
To give you a re-cap, I started off the month, just under 19″ by a little bit. On the 10th, I was right around 19.25″, and now, it’s looking like I’m up to about 19.5″.
I gotta say, I think the biggest growth has happened in my triceps, especially my left one. Every so often, I’ll see my tris out of the corner of my eye, and think, “WOAH, they definitely seem bigger.”
Now I wish I would have taken a before and after measurement of my triceps flexed…oh well.
Hey, as small as the growth is, it’s still progress. And I’m beyond PUMPED to see it. This little experiment has worked so far, two years in a row.
I’d love to hear how your progress is going. Please leave a comment below.
If you’d still like to get your copy of the August of Arms Program, the low price of $27 is good through the entire month. Get it today => August of Arms.
You have the right to build BIG ARMS, and you can start doing it 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
I Love Strength.
I love training for it. I love testing it. I love displaying it.
I’ve aligned everything in my workouts to help me build more strength.
My obsession with strength has led me to turning even the lifts that you wouldn’t normally consider “strength lifts” into legitimate tests of strength and intestinal fortitude.
One such example is the Triceps Rope Pushdown. Generally an exercise used to pump up the triceps and make them grow, I’ve found it can also be used to test the strength throughout much of the upper body.
I don’t bother staying super strict with this. My arms move, I engage my lats, and there is a bit of throw in there, but I don’t care.
The objective is to move so much weight on this old-school cable machine of mine, that I hope to cause a failure in the device somewhere, so that the weight crashes down, cracking the concrete floor, and bits and pieces of shrapnel shoot out everywhere.
I hit this lift and variations of it countless times during the month of October, throughout the Yoketober program. But most of that work was for high volume to build mass. I decided I wanted to see just how heavy I could go.
During most of my Yoketober workouts, I was in the 75lb to 90lb area on this lift. It wasn’t until last week that I finally decide to go after triple digits, working all the way up to 125.
Build Strong Triceps: Heavy Triceps Rope Push-dwons
In the video above, I get 5 reps. That means it’s time to go up in weight, brotherrrr.
Also, take note, I don’t count the first one, where I throw it down to the bottom position. A little decorum, please.
It may seem crazy to do this, but to me it’s not.
I like ramping up the intensity, and I enjoy turning things like this into tests of strength.
What’s awesome is that since my Push-down is plate loadable, there’s really no limit as to how much weight I can use, whereas on most Push-down machines at commercial gyms, you’re limited to the weight stack, and I can usually stack those with no problem.
I will continue to hit these Heavy Push-downs until the weight I use totally destroys my machine, or until I shred the sleeves open on the awesome 3/4 length sleeve tee shirt I wear in the video.
Here’s to you causing serious damage this year as well.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
If you are not yet subscribed to my YouTube Channel, click that link in order to do so.
I hope you have been having a great year. I set out to make this year MINE from the get go, and I am loving it.
One of my initiatives going forward to make more posts here at the site to share more of what is going down in my training, but being a subscriber to my channel is the absolute best way to make sure you are not missing anything.
Here are some cool things I am pretty proud of that have taken place this year, but I haven’t had the chance to post here.
Inch Dumbbell Plus 10lbs
The Inch Dumbbell weighs 172-lbs and has a handle that is 2 & 3/8″ in diameter. There are many ways to add weight to an Inch Dumbbell, but perhaps the strictest way to do so is to actually set the plates on top of the globes. Any rotation of the dumbbell whatsoever and the plates will fall right off, so this method shows you have excellent control of the implement.
Earlier this year, I was able to hit a lift on Inch + 10lbs.
Robo Blob Lifts
Last last year, I partnered with a local steel company to get Fatman Blob Replicas made. Our replicas, currently called Robo Blobs, are machined directly from steel billets and carved to the perfect flawless shape of a Fatman Blob.
For the longest time, I could get NO AIR underneath my Robo Blob, until finally after several months I was able to break it free from gravity’s hold. One small break was all I needed.
Order your own Diesel Robo Blob Here
Shortly after, I was able to lift the Robo Blob with about 2.5pounds added, as well.
Monster Dumbbell Curls
Over the last couple of years, I have expanded my obsession from not just developing a strength in the lower arms in the form of tremendous grip strength, but big and strong arms OVERALL. This year I have decided to set myself a goal of 20″ arms COLD, meaning not with a pump, but just walking around, regular sized.
I have been told that this is an IMPOSSIBLE goal by some, at least impossible to do it without chemical assistance, but I am determined to do so with the use of a mix of training methods, including heavy training, high volume, and other extreme tactics.
So far, the strength improvements are coming along nicely, as this year I was able to set some new PR’s in the Dumbbell Curl. Below is a set of 80-lb Curls.
A few months later, I was also able to curl 85’s.
One objective I set out for is to keep the Dumbbell Curls strict. Often, when people post Dumbbell Curl videos, there is a substantial amount of throwing going on, and I try to avoid that as much as possible.
There’s still a lot to catch up on. Like I said before, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel, and be sure to sign up for my email newsletter as well.
All the best in your training.
Jedd
Want to Order a Robo Blob? Go here => Diesel Robo Blob
Want to Build Big Arms? Answer the Call to Arms today.