Biceps / Triceps specialisation

[SiMON2g]

I want to target specifically Biceps and Triceps for the next 8-12 weeks and trying to tailor something for that can anyone critique what I'm thinking of doing?


Over the past 4 months I've been running pull/push/legs

That looked like this:

Back/Biceps (last)

Chest/Shoulders/Triceps (last)

With this design I saw good lat and back gains and decent rear delt gains, good medial delt gains, slight front delt gains, slight chest gains

Main movements were Chin Ups, UH Grip and NG Grip PD, T-Bar Row chest supported, Close Grip Bench, Overhead BB Press, NG DB press, 8 isolation sets for Biceps and Triceps per workout and Lateral raises cable x3 sets and Rope upright row x3 sets

I ran push pull legs x2 per week with legs x1 per week cause I play basketball twice a week.

Everything was focused towards Triceps, Biceps and lats. Bicep and Triceps strength gains were noticed with moderate growth. But I never walked out the gym feeling sore or dead arms for Biceps and for Triceps it only happened once.

I put this down to leaving Biceps till last, I was going till failure and I'd either be 1 rep short of failure or at failure/forcing reps with my own assistance.

I know I don't always need to be sore but it's strange I never did get sore for them.

Biceps 16 sets
Triceps 12 sets
Shoulders 16 sets
Back 14 sets
Chest 8 sets

Per week split across two sessions.

What I'm planning to do is

1. Biceps/Back - 8 sets Biceps, 8 sets back

BB Curl, DB cross body curl, concentration curl, bayeasian cable curl, Weighted chin up, UH lat PD, T Bar Row

2. Triceps/Shoulders/Chest - 8 sets Triceps, 11 sets Shoulders, 4 sets Chest

Push downs rope, cross cable extensions, OH extensions, OH BB Press, Close Grip Bench, Lateral Cable Raise, rope UR row, face pull, rear delt pulls (rear delts could go to back day)

3. Biceps/Back - 8 sets Biceps, 8 sets back

4. Shoulders/Chest/Triceps

Reversing the order here cause I do wanna focus on Shoulders to so one day of Triceps first and another day with Shoulders first


So I think this allows me to get max work in for biceps/Triceps and then going to OH BB Press and Close Grip bench will be crazy fatigue work for Triceps and they'd already be burnt out so they will be limiting factor on that day.

Same mindset goes for biceps before back, I noticed my back strength was not reduced as much as I thought from doing biceps first certainly not how doing back first effected my biceps work last.

Overall thoughts?

[TAWS6]

I’d setup a spec cycle for 6-8 weeks
This is what I ran years back
It keeps frequency at 2 x per week

Upper (arm spec)
Close grip bench 5x5
Overhead tri extension 4x12
Barbell curl 4x6
Hammer curl 4x12
Chest fly 2x10
Lat pull-down 2x10
Row 1x10

Upper (arm spec b)
Barbell curl 5x5
Hammer curl 4x12
Tri press down 4x12
Skull crushers 4x6
Chest fly 2x10
Row 2x10
Lat pull down 1x10

[SiMON2g]

I’d setup a spec cycle for 6-8 weeks
This is what I ran years back
It keeps frequency at 2 x per week

Upper (arm spec)
Close grip bench 5x5
Overhead tri extension 4x12
Barbell curl 4x6
Hammer curl 4x12
Chest fly 2x10
Lat pull-down 2x10
Row 1x10

Upper (arm spec b)
Barbell curl 5x5
Hammer curl 4x12
Tri press down 4x12
Skull crushers 4x6
Chest fly 2x10
Row 2x10
Lat pull down 1x10

Are we running each workout x2 per week?

That'd be a frequency of x4 per week right for Biceps and Triceps

[TAWS6]

Are we running each workout x2 per week?

That'd be a frequency of x4 per week right for Biceps and Triceps

Nope. The template is a 4 day upper lower. So you could pick a lower body muscle group to specialize as well.

[air2fakie]

Don't all of our self-made programs secretly specialize in arms, just that those who are proficient in programming know that max useful volume really isn't all that much when inserted into a good overall program?

In the end if you're intermediate/advanced, your arms aren't really gonna grow much unless you're gaining weight or just working them out so often that they always look pumped.

[SiMON2g]

Don't all of our self-made programs secretly specialize in arms, just that those who are proficient in programming know that max useful volume really isn't all that much when inserted into a good overall program?

In the end if you're intermediate/advanced, your arms aren't really gonna grow much unless you're gaining weight or just working them out so often that they always look pumped.

I am on a bulk. I'm around 188cm @ 92kg and have room to go up to 95kg. I'm not advanced, I'd put myself in the fringes of intermediate.


Back/Biceps
Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
Rest
Biceps/Back
Triceps/Shoulders/Chest
Legs
Biceps/Triceps/Delts
Rest

8 day cycle - start again after the rest day. I'd make that last workout on day 7 a low volume but quality sets workout. So no more than x6 sets per muscle there where usually I was doing x8 sets per those muscles per workout. Just to ensure I'm ready to go for back day.



Here how I've designed this to me seems the most optimal to try get x3 frequency for Biceps/Triceps/Delts

I've just been told so many times that arms respond well to high frequency as long as the intensity stays the same and you are recovering. Especially delts I've been told this is the case. But I've never tried a x3 frequency for any body part.

[TAWS6]

You’re trying to do way too much at once. No one needs to be in the gym that much. Are you hearing this from juice heads? Cough cough dr. Mike..

[Horizon92]

Don't spend too much time pining over optimal frequency. The reality is that there is not one "optimal" frequency that can be recommended to everyone.

We know some general truths, such as:

- 1 day per week is likely too low to be optimal frequency
- every day per week is likely too high to be optimal frequency
- Smaller muscle groups handles higher frequency better because shorter recovery time

However, the role of frequency is not well understood. The high frequency frenzy was a result from some studies showing how long elevated protein synthesis lasted for, and people took that and ran with it, designing programs around maximizing time spent with elevated protein synthesis. But there isn't really a reason to think this is the end all be all to programming or hypertrophy.

Now, thats just in theory. It gets even more muddy when we consider practical, real life scenario where individual differences, motivation and life outside the gym becomes massive factors that should matter a lot more considering how building muscle is at the end of the day all about long term consistency.

I think that the "safe bet" for frequency is 2-3 times per week, but both 1 time per week and 7 times per week can work. What is important, however, is to view it as a sliding scale where when frequency goes up, volume and intensity per session must go down. Basically, if you hit a muscle once per week, you can and should do more on that session than if you're hitting it 3 times per week.

For bicep and tricep isolation specifically, I would say 2-3 exercises in total is sufficient. I would say that if you do 2 to 3 hard working sets on 1-2 say bicep exercises per session, that will be sufficient. Remember that the key is to perform sets hard enough to force adaptation, recover properly and then do it again with the same intensity (which will mean higher load, more reps or shorter rest times etc). Repeat into infinity. It isn't necessary or productive to keep piling on the volume or exercise variety. Go into the gym with good mental focus, perform well executed sets which actually gets you close to failure, then recover.