Hitting Biceps & Triceps Well Enough with These Exercises?

Hi, I have a few questions about whether I’m hitting all parts of certain muscles as well as I should be in my workout routine.

For biceps I do;

Hammer Curls (twice per week)

Bicep Curls (twice per week)

Chin-up/pull-ups (once per week)

Lat pull down (once per week)

Do you think I will be targeting all the muscles of the biceps with these 3 exercises adequately enough?

For triceps I do;

Dumbell Bench Press/Machine Chest Press (each once a week)

Dumbell Floor Press and Tricep Straight Bar Pulldowns (each once a week)

Again, will the cumulative effect of these exercises work all heads of my triceps adequately?

I have tried to look this up myself but it seems hard to come by any good answers. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Everyone is going to be a little different. People arent build the same way, or sometimes guys do lifts a little different and they don’t hit everybody the same.

You’ll have to try it out for awhile and see what kind of results you get.

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I personally would add a tricep exercise that works them in the lenghtend/stretch position. Pjr pull overs or overhead extention, where the main focus is on a good deep stretch.

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Reps and sets?

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I think you should focus more on compound exercises than isolation exercises. Also you are only doing one tricep-specific exercise once a week:

while you are doing two types of curls twice a week each.

This.

You could say, I do curls for bis, but maybe you’re doing 20 sets to failure and it’s too much.

Or you could say, I do curls, reverse curls, hammer curls, preacher curls, and pulldowns, but you’re doing a set of each at 50% and it’s not enough.

There’s not enough info here.

I would say, given adequate stimulus, what you’re doing could be fine for growth and certainly hits everything.

I do not subscribe to the camp that poo poos isolation work - if you want your arms to grow, you should work your arms. But you can grow them through one rest pause set of curls, and you can do tons of curls and not grow them at all, so we need to know what quality of work you’re doing.

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Hold it… your the guy who was doing a ridiculous amount of reps on arms.

Hi. Even though it isn’t a isolation exercise, I’ve been using the dumbell floor press with the intention of hitting the triceps after I originally tried it with the intention if working chest but realised it felt like it set my triceps on fire. Not advisable? Thanks again for the advice.

I do 3 sets of hammer curls and 3 sets of bicep curls, twice a week. I do 8 sets of lat pulldowns once a week and 8 sets of pullups/chinups once a week (I alternate each workout between the two). I alternate in the same way between the dumbell bench press and machine chest press, and dumbell floor press and tricep pulldowns for working triceps - usually doing eight sets for the chest exercises and then finishing with two or three sets to isolate the triceps.

Yeah I’m that guy​:roll_eyes::pensive:. That was a wake up call, I stay in the 8-12 range for the most part now.

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I’m glad you made this comment. I don’t have any tricep moves that stretch it like that and I will definitely add one!

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There is nothing wrong with dumbbell floor press, I’m just saying that you are doing way more work for your biceps than your triceps which doesn’t make much sense.

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You’re doing 8 working sets per exercise?

People who influence my training, the likes of Paul Carter and Hypertrophy Coach are into that kind of stuff, and its made a big difference in my exercise selection.

1 exercise that focuses on the full/mid range
1 on the peak contraction
1 on the stretch
I usually do it as a tri set for 1 or 2 runs, the exercise order depends on which exercises I choose.

Example, dips, overhead extentions, band push downs.

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This is probably the most useful post I’ve read today. Thank you.

No probs, i find the topic interesting (resistance curves and muscle lenghts) and it has made my training much more efficient and I would like to think effective.

So take the example above, if you just did 3 sets of push downs you fail at the contraction way before the stretched position is taxed enough with that exercise, then if your next exercise is kickbacks then it’s working the same range you have just worked, pretty obsolete.

So by choosing certain pairings you can ensure the muscle is hit thoroughly and avoid doing pointless exercises that are basically working something you have just exhausted.

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Where would be a good place to go to learn more?

Muscle length?..Blah blah blah…beginners?..too complex…blah blah blah

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Look at N1 education, Hypertrophy Coach and Paul carter. I just follow on Instagram and articles here and there but they do have paid websites.

@FlatsFarmer ha ha ha, not getting involved in that!

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PC article about peak/stretch/mid-range contractions for arms.

If you search for “Positions of Flexion, Steve Holman” you’ll get links to buy Holman’s book. Below that there are a few blog posts or articles that are like book reports, talking about full range/stretch/peak contractions.

This is a great post by Kenny Kroxdale about strength curves in hamstring moves. It’s not specific to arms or hypertrophy.

45 Degree Hip/Back Extension

This provides some good information on the 45 Degree Hip/Back Extension.

It’s essentially a Good Morning performed from a different angle.

Bell Shaped Strength Curve Training

The 45 Degree Hip/Back Extension has a “Bell Shaped Strength Curve”. That means it is easy at the beginning and end of the movement.

It is hard in the middle part of he movement. As he stated in the video, this works the mid range knee area of a Deadlift.

90 Degree/Parallel Hip/Back Extension

This essentially is a Good Morning from a different angle, as well.

“Descending Strength Curve Training”

The 90 Degree Hip/Back Extension has a “Descending Strength Curve”. That means it is easy at the beginning and middle part of the movement; hard at the end/lockout.

It works the top end/lockout of a Deadlift.

Good Morning Hip/Back Extension

Another version of a Hip/Back Extension from a different angle.

The Ascending Strength Curve

The Good Morning has an “Ascending Shaped Strength Curve”. That means it is hard in the bottom position and easier at the middle and top part of the movement.

Good Morning increase strength and power off the floor of a Deadlift.

Choose The Right Tool For The Job

Each of these Hip/Back Extension Exercises elicits a different training effect.

  1. 45 Degree Hip/Back Extension for increasing Mid Range Strength; knee area of the Deadlift.
  2. 90 Degree Hip/Back Extension for increasing Top End/Lockout of the Deadlift.
  3. Good Morning Hip/Back Extension for increasing strength and power off the floor of he Deadlift

Kenny Croxdale

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That’s some awesome material to get stuck into, thanks.

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