Build Bigger Arms – August of Arms

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…

Build Big Arms: 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

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

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

Superstar Billy Graham
Former WWWF Champion and
Partner of Arnold

Some of the classic bodybuilding pairings for the upper body are Chest and Triceps, Shoulders and Triceps, and back and Biceps.

These are time-tested methods, of course, BUT sooner or later, you’ve got to mix your training up a bit.

Do the same stuff for too long, and you’re sure to become stagnant in your results.

Before you know it, your training split is actually holding your training results back.

And if you’re anything like most people, you get sick of doing the same stuff like that all the time.

Today, I am going to show you how you can mix your training split up. The guys who have tried this with me have loved it, and I think you will too.

Reverse Muscle Building Workouts

Here’s how I do most of my upper body workouts with a “bodybuilding/muscle building” style workouts.

• Chest and Biceps (or Chest, Shoulders, and Biceps)
• Back and Triceps

What you end up with is some of the most ridiculous pumps you have ever felt.

Chest and Biceps day blows up your chest and biceps until your shirt screams in agony. Throw in some shoulder work and its even more phenomenal.

On Back and Triceps days, your lats, posterior delts and traps get smoked, and when you throw in triceps along with it, you get the most interesting pre-exhaust sensations.

Here is an example Chest, Shoulders, and Biceps day that JT Straussner and I recently did.

Example Reverse Muscle Building Workout:

Note: Each letter signifies one training block, either a single exercise or a pairing. Each number shows the order of exercises done in pairings.

Example Reverse Muscle Building Workout

A. Bench Press: We worked up to 275 and hit it for 3 sets of 6 to 8.

B. Seated Dumbbell Military Press: We worked up to 70’s and we to failure or near failure on these, since we didn’t pair them with another exercise.

C1. Rock Front Raise: I saw the Rock doing these in a recent issue of Men’s Fitness. Good for an occasional use now and again, but I prefer Kneeling Landmines to be honest.
C2. Farmer’s Shrugs: This is my favorite way to work shrugs. Perfect way to go with heavy weights without straining the back. Find out more here: Heavy Shrugs Without Hurting Your Back.

D1. Push-ups : This is a great pushing exercise that builds your chest, delts, and triceps. We did a slight variation of the push-up with the feet elevated, since we also did Flat Bench Press.
D2. Pull-aparts: This is often used with a light band to work the smaller muscles that abduct the shoulders, BUT we used heavier bands here to work the bigger muscles and the triceps.

***Note: For the D1/D2 combination, we focused on 20 reps per exercise and for some sets, we had to do Rest Pauses in order to get the target reps.

E. Reverse Curls Stare-down: This was just plain INSANE. We loaded the EZ Curl Bar and hit set after set until our arms were about to blow up.

Left: Superstar Billy Graham Right: Arnold

So, the majority of the workout was Push & Biceps. I added in Shrugs because I like to get those in a couple of times a week. Same with the Pull-aparts.

This workout provides some of the necessary ingredients for growth: multi-joint movements, isolation movements, varied rep-ranges, and varied loads. When you mix the variables like this up on a routine basis, you can’t help but grow.

My suggestion is to try one thing at a time though. First off, try the switch to Chest and Bi’s and Back and Tri’s using some of the exercises, rep-ranges and loading you like. Once you get a taste of these two non-conventional workout set-ups, then you can start tweaking with some of the other adjustments.

Enjoy the crazy pumps.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Want More Ideas on How to Grow Bigger Arms?
Get Call to Arms below: