Training Tips for Bigger Arms from One of Manhattan's Top Personal Trainers and Male Models

We all know what we're after - the Holy Grail of the physique, the flagstone of fitness, the blue ribbon of bodybuilding, the mainstay of muscle... the one thing that is the foundation of any great body, and the one thing we all long to have: a pair of barrel-like biceps.

Here's how to get them.

BLAST YOUR BI'S WITH A BARBELL
There's a reason that the standing bicep curl is the most demanding arm exercise. It's because it's also the best. No exercise comes close to the barbell curl for adding mass and density to the front of your arm. It's the movement that most effectively hits both heads of the bicep muscle, and the movement with which every arm routine must begin.

Using a shoulder width grip with your knees slightly bent and your body erect, slowly curl the barbell upward until your hands are in line with your shoulders. Lift the weight up in 3 seconds, and lower it in 4-6. Research proves that the negative, or eccentric (lowering of the weight) portion of the curl greatly enhances muscular growth.

CUT CANNONS WITH CABLES
While heavy barbell curls are the best weapon in the mass building arsenal, they have a tendency to allow you to "cheat" yourself. To completely work the biceps, resistance should pull at them during all portions of an exercise. Unfortunately, because gravity works in only one direction, there are moments at the top and bottom of barbell curls where your arms are resistance-free. This is where cable curls come in. With cables, you can maintain muscular stress during all phases of the curl to an extent that is just not mechanically possible with free weights. One-arm cable curls take advantage of this.

Hold a stirrup handle from a low pulley in your right hand. Step far enough away from the pulley so that the weight is lifted slightly off the stack with your arm fully extended. Curl the handle up, turning your palm up as you go, until your biceps touch your forearms. Keep your elbow close to your side at all times, and slowly return to the starting position. Repeat with your other arm.

PEAK WITH PREACHERS
All major mass-building movements have a down-side: they fail to truly isolate the muscle. The squat also works the glutes, hams, and back. The bench press also works the tri's. And unfortunately for those of us dreaming of 20" peaks, barbell and cable curls also work our shoulders. In order to truly blast the biceps, we have to include exercises that utterly focus on the biceps alone. One such exercise - one that eliminates shoulder work by stabilizing the upper arm - is the preacher curl.

Adjust a preacher curl station so that the top of the pad hits around the center of your sternum, and your upper arms rest flat against it. Keep your body in one place instead of rocking back and forth to leverage the weight up, and curl the bar upward until your biceps completely contract. Get a good squeeze, then slowly return to the starting position.

GO HERCULEAN WITH HAMMER CURLS
Many never achieve the biceps of their dreams for one simple reason: they fail to properly frame them. Like a great work of art that's tacked up to a flaking bathroom wall, your arms will never reach full potential unless you work to build a muscular frame around them. That frame is the brachialis: the short, flat muscle that forms the top of your forearms and terminates beneath your bi's. To develop the best arms possible, you have to incorporate a movement that brings the upper-forearm and bicep together... and that movement is the hammer curl.

With a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your arms hanging at your sides. Your palms should be turned inward, facing your hips. Keeping your elbows close to your sides and your upper body still, curl the weight up - one arm at a time - in a semi-circle toward your right shoulder. Squeeze the biceps hard at the top of the lift and then slowly lower the weight. Do not turn your wrists during this lift! You palms should face inward at all times.

TIPS FOR TITANIUM ARMS
1.Always stretch before working your arms. Stretching not only prevents injury, but can also help to elongate the muscle. While thickness is nice, the longer your biceps grow, the bigger they'll be when contracted.
2.Follow strict form: always keep your elbows close to your sides and your upper-body still.
3.Always squeeze the biceps at the top of every movement.
4.Always take twice as long to lower the weight as it took to raise it.
5.Always train as heavy as possible within the recommended rep range: about 6-10 reps for major movements (like barbell curls), and 10-15 for more specific movements (like one-arm curls).