Every muscle group in the body is actually comprised of millions of muscle cells. They form together to create thousands of muscle fibers. Each exercise you complete for this muscle group requires a different set of these muscle fibers to be used. When training the triceps, for example, you cannot just enter the gym and complete six sets of pressdowns and call it a day. You must hit the group from different angles. Here is an example of a triceps workout which hits the muscle group from every possible angle, stimulating as many muscle fibers as possible. It also employs low-, medium-, and high-repetition ranges to ensure the slow and fast twitch muscle fibers are stimulated.

Warm-up: Close-grip pushdowns with moderate weight, 3 sets.

Close-grip pressdowns
Set 1 - 15 repetitions with light weight (50% of 1 RM)
Set 2- 10 repetitions with medium weight (70% of 1 RM)
Set 3- 6 to 8 repetitions with heavy weight (85% of 1 RM)

Close group bench press
Set 1 - 15 repetitions with light weight (50% of 1 RM)
Set 2- 10 repetitions with medium weight (70% of 1 RM)
Set 3- 6 to 8 repetitions with heavy weight (85% of 1 RM)

Curl machine (reverse grip)
Set 1 - 15 repetitions with light weight (50% of 1 RM)
Set 2- 10 repetitions with medium weight (70% of 1 RM)
Set 3- 6 to 8 repetitions with heavy weight (85% of 1 RM)

Dumbbell kickbacks
Set 1 - 15 repetitions with light weight (50% of 1 RM)
Set 2- 10 repetitions with medium weight (70% of 1 RM)
Set 3- 6 to 8 repetitions with heavy weight (85% of 1 RM)

Rope pressdowns
Set 1 - 15 repetitions with light weight (50% of 1 RM)
Set 2- 10 repetitions with medium weight (70% of 1 RM)
Set 3- 6 to 8 repetitions with heavy weight (85% of 1 RM)

As you can see, this routine is only 15 sets, but provides a wide variety of training angles and rep schemes. It’s preferable to train mid-day or late evening at your gym (or any time at your home gym) in order to have access to the equipment such a workout would require. Plan a rest day following this workout to ensure you don’t overtrain, or injure yourself the following day if upper arm DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is too great. Increase your protein by 40 grams and calories by 200 to 400 if you feel run down, and add some vitamin C (500 to 1000 mg) following your workout for best results.

This methodology works with all muscle groups. Need to give your chest a boost? Choose your five favorite chest exercises, and lay them out in the exact same fashion. Limit each exercise to three sets, and vary their rep range, reducing each set by 3-4 repetitions as you raise the weight 10 or 20%. For legs, it works the same way. You can always add a 6th or 7th exercise to the mix if you feel 15 sets isn’t enough to properly stimulate the muscle group for growth, or if you just have something still left in the tank at the completion of this workout.

If you like this article, click here to share: