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Which workout routine is better for bicep/tricep muscle growth?
1) Work out the biceps and triceps twice per week, always in tandem with chest, back, or shoulders.
2) Work out the biceps and triceps once per week on a dedicated day, separate from chest, back, or shoulders.
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I've been doing workout 1 for a while now. Here's how my weekly schedule looks:
Mon: Chest + triceps
Wed: Back + biceps
Fri: Shoulders + biceps/triceps supersets
The following Monday, my weekly workout schedule restarts with chest + triceps, followed by back + biceps on Wed and shoulders + biceps/triceps supersets on Fri.
I've had good results with this workout, but I wonder if I'm overtraining myself and limiting growth by doing biceps and triceps twice per week.
Would I be better off by limiting myself to a single, dedicated biceps/triceps day? Here's how it would look:
Mon: Chest only
Wed: Back only
Fri: Shoulders only
Sun: Biceps + triceps only
Tue (weekly workout schedule restarts): Chest only
Thu: Back only
Sat: Shoulders only
Mon: Biceps + triceps only
and so on and so forth.
Thanks in advance.
[QUOTE=cosmokramer1990;676264751](continued from above)
I've been doing workout 1 for a while now. Here's how my weekly schedule looks:
Mon: Chest + triceps
Wed: Back + biceps
Fri: Shoulders + biceps/triceps supersets
The following Monday, my weekly workout schedule restarts with chest + triceps, followed by back + biceps on Wed and shoulders + biceps/triceps supersets on Fri.
I've had good results with this workout, but I wonder if I'm overtraining myself and limiting growth by doing biceps and triceps twice per week.
Would I be better off by limiting myself to a single, dedicated biceps/triceps day? Here's how it would look:
Mon: Chest only
Wed: Back only
Fri: Shoulders only
Sun: Biceps + triceps only
Tue (weekly workout schedule restarts): Chest only
Thu: Back only
Sat: Shoulders only
Mon: Biceps + triceps only
and so on and so forth.
Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]
^LOL, You forgot about the other 1/2 of your body - LEGS! Stop worrying about how many times a week to work your arms & start doing something for your lower body.
[QUOTE=mbinda;676305371]^LOL, You forgot about the other 1/2 of your body - LEGS! Stop worrying about how many times a week to work your arms & start doing something for your lower body.[/QUOTE]
Actually, I do have a set routine for legs (and other parts of my body, like abs). But I didn't include that info in my post for the sake of keeping it shorter and not distracting anyone from my main point.
With that said, do you have any advice regarding my original post? Or are you one of those guys who simply likes to criticize without offering any insight?
Does the amount of rest needed for optimal biceps/triceps growth vary widely from person to person? Or is there a general rule of thumb for these muscles?
I just wonder if hitting these muscles really hard once a week, when they're fully rested, would be better than twice a week in conjunction with chest/back/shoulders, when they're somewhat fatigued.
[QUOTE=cosmokramer1990;676385931]Does the amount of rest needed for optimal biceps/triceps growth vary widely from person to person? Or is there a general rule of thumb for these muscles?
I just wonder if hitting these muscles really hard once a week, when they're fully rested, would be better than twice a week in conjunction with chest/back/shoulders, when they're somewhat fatigued.[/QUOTE]
^I think once a week is fine because you have to remember that they get some indirect work during chest/shoulders (tris) and back (bis) so hitting them twice a week on top of that indirect can be too much but again it varies from person to person.
*Also..do you have any rest days during the week?
I would say go with number 2 then you give your chest and back more rest time.
[QUOTE=mbinda;676423071]^I think once a week is fine because you have to remember that they get some indirect work during chest/shoulders (tris) and back (bis) so hitting them twice a week on top of that indirect can be too much but again it varies from person to person.
*Also..do you have any rest days during the week?[/QUOTE]
Yes, I have two rest days during the week (Sat-Sun). I do upper body work on Mon-Wed-Fri, legs/abs on Tue, and abs + calves on Thu.
If I were to switch to workout #2 (as mentioned in my original post), my workout routine would probably look like this:
Mon: Chest only
Tue: Legs + abs
Wed: Back only
Thu: Abs + calves
Fri: Shoulders only
Sat: Rest
Sun: Biceps+ triceps
Mon: Rest
Tue (weekly workout schedule restarts): Chest only
Still comes out to two days of rest per cycle, while giving me an extra day for my upper body muscles to rest.
[QUOTE=Marcusgs;676423081]I would say go with number 2 then you give your chest and back more rest time.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the input.
Yeah, I was figuring that maybe workout #2 would not only help my biceps and triceps, but also allow me to have better chest/back workouts.
You don't need a day for just abbs and calves
I had a lot of trouble getting my arms to grow...I always did biceps after back, triceps after chest. For about 2 months now, I've been doing Monday Chest, Tuesday Back, Wed Shoulders, Arms on Friday, Legs Saturday. I hit biceps first with 4 exercises (BB curl, BB drag curl, Incline DB Curl or High Cable Curl, then Preacher Curl) then triceps (CGBP, Overhead Cable Extension, Cable Pressdown, 1 arm Rope Extension), and I have definitely been seeing really good results...for me, a day dedicated to arms has been really good to my gains.
Take a look at the BB Drag Curl....I never knew about this exercise before, but it really works well for isolating the biceps.
[QUOTE=BoilerUpIndy;676926541]for me, a day dedicated to arms has been really good to my gains.[/QUOTE]
Same.
[QUOTE=BoilerUpIndy;676926541]I had a lot of trouble getting my arms to grow...I always did biceps after back, triceps after chest. For about 2 months now, I've been doing Monday Chest, Tuesday Back, Wed Shoulders, Arms on Friday, Legs Saturday. I hit biceps first with 4 exercises (BB curl, BB drag curl, Incline DB Curl or High Cable Curl, then Preacher Curl) then triceps (CGBP, Overhead Cable Extension, Cable Pressdown, 1 arm Rope Extension), and I have definitely been seeing really good results...for me, a day dedicated to arms has been really good to my gains.
Take a look at the BB Drag Curl....I never knew about this exercise before, but it really works well for isolating the biceps.[/QUOTE]
Thanks a lot man, these are really useful tips. Much appreciated.
i have just started shifting attention towards working arms twice per week. I think you should devote one day entirely towards arms at the end of the week but also train at least 1 or 2 exercise with your chest and back days. Remember your arms are growing during the recovery so make sure you give yourself enough time in between. If you dont think you are allowing enough time, you probably arent.
[QUOTE=cosmokramer1990;676826711]Yes, I have two rest days during the week (Sat-Sun). I do upper body work on Mon-Wed-Fri, legs/abs on Tue, and abs + calves on Thu.
If I were to switch to workout #2 (as mentioned in my original post), my workout routine would probably look like this:
Mon: Chest only
Tue: Legs + abs
Wed: Back only
Thu: Abs + calves
Fri: Shoulders only
Sat: Rest
Sun: Biceps+ triceps
Mon: Rest
Tue (weekly workout schedule restarts): Chest only
Still comes out to two days of rest per cycle, while giving me an extra day for my upper body muscles to rest.[/QUOTE]
you might as well go earlier and to splits near the same body parts and add another rest day. start how many workouts are you doing per muscle group? because those days your doing only hitting one group are just going to waist if they're resting for almost 3+days..unless your doing 5or 6 workouts for that single area. after all, the idea is to trick your body.
like,
Mon: Chest+ Biceps
Tue: Shoulder+triceps
Wed: Back+Shoulders
Thu: Legs+calves
Fri: Abs+cardio
Sat: Rest
Sun: Rest
[QUOTE=ectobruh;677533291]you might as well go earlier and to splits near the same body parts and add another rest day. start how many workouts are you doing per muscle group? because those days your doing only hitting one group are just going to waist if they're resting for almost 3+days..unless your doing 5or 6 workouts for that single area. after all, the idea is to trick your body.
like,
Mon: Chest+ Biceps
Tue: Shoulder+triceps
Wed: Back+Shoulders
Thu: Legs+calves
Fri: Abs+cardio
Sat: Rest
Sun: Rest[/QUOTE]
i pers have a very hard time having delts and chest back to back days...but im much older.
OP..what ive been liking is a few heavy sets of tris after chest and bis after back. then a few days later if my arms feel recovered i go higher rep arms day, some supersets if i can. this has worked for me.
[QUOTE=ectobruh;677533291]you might as well go earlier and to splits near the same body parts and add another rest day. start how many workouts are you doing per muscle group? because those days your doing only hitting one group are just going to waist if they're resting for almost 3+days..unless your doing 5or 6 workouts for that single area. after all, the idea is to trick your body.
like,
Mon: Chest+ Biceps
Tue: Shoulder+triceps
Wed: Back+Shoulders
Thu: Legs+calves
Fri: Abs+cardio
Sat: Rest
Sun: Rest[/QUOTE]
That's not a good idea because when you do chest you are working your triceps and shoulders as well, then the next day you have him doing shoulders and then you have him doing direct tricep work, then the next day you have him doing shoulders again which work triceps also? So now the shoulders have been worked 3 days in a row and the triceps 3 days in a row. Not a very good idea.
[QUOTE=josh001122;677626111]That's not a good idea because when you do chest you are working your triceps and shoulders as well, then the next day you have him doing shoulders and then you have him doing direct tricep work, then the next day you have him doing shoulders again which work triceps also? So now the shoulders have been worked 3 days in a row and the triceps 3 days in a row. Not a very good idea.[/QUOTE]
...not directly in that order though. i guess it would be harder with age...man i dunno.