The program is performed two or three times a week. I did it three times a week, but I have great recovery capacity from my days of Olympic lifting. It's a very short program (around 20-25 minutes), so you can actually perform it at the end of a regular workout. Obviously, don't perform it two days in a row, or the day before training your back.
You'll perform three arm flexor exercises:
1. Steep preacher curl (preacher curls on the side of the bench that's directly perpendicular to the ground).
2. Steep dumbbell hammer preacher curl.
3. Steep reverse grip preacher curl.
You'll perform 5 to 8 sets of each. Yes, you heard me right.
And now I hear some of you screaming "
Whaaaaaat?! 15 to 24 sets for biceps, are you crazy, Thib?" Not in the least. Before you say anything about overtraining, allow me to continue.
None of the sets are performed to muscle failure, or close to it. Well, it might happen at the end of the workout, especially if your work capacity is low, but overall the actual stress of each set isn't maximal. So 24 sets will actually have the same training stress impact as 12-15 sets (which is within the norm when it comes to volume for a body part).
The key is progression. My original program lasted 8 weeks (two phases of 4 weeks), but you can also use it for a short cycle of 4 weeks to spark some new growth. The guidelines are as follow:
• You'll use the same weight for the whole duration of a 4 weeks cycle.
• This means that if you perform the program 3 times per week you use the same weight for 12 workouts.
• You don't change the weight during a workout, either.
• If you extend it to an 8-week cycle, you'll increase the load only on the fifth week.
• Rest intervals are kept to 45 seconds between sets, ideally. If your work capacity sucks you can bump it up to 60 seconds until you improve.
• You start each cycle with a load you can lift for 5 difficult but solid reps.
Week 1: perform 8 sets of 3 reps (with the weight you could do 5 times) of each of the three exercises
Week 2: perform 7 sets of 4 reps with the same weights
Week 3: perform 6 sets of 5 reps with the same weights
Week 4: perform 5 sets of 6 reps with the same weights
At the conclusion of a 4-week cycle, if your nutrition was in line (mass gaining approach) you should have added at least half an inch to your arm. It should also look more solid and dense.
If you decide to start a new cycle, keep the same three exercises and loading parameters but start the cycle with 5 to 10 more pounds on each of the three movements.
As you can see it's a fairly simple and straight-forward program. Nothing fancy, but it works! Why does it work? Relatively heavy loading, stimulating a pump with a heavy weight, planned progression, and a relatively high frequency (to improve neuromuscular activation of the biceps). Give it a shot and your upper arm size and strength gains won't disappoint you.
Bron:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/thibs_quick_tricks
