Direct arm training: arguments for and against

Here's what you need to know...

1. Competitive athletes can skip direct arm training. These athletes already train extensively. The time that would be necessary for direct arm training is better spent recovering and regenerating.
2. Beginners should focus on getting stronger at the basic exercises before even considering direct arm training.
3. Once you have built a good strength base, but your arms are lagging behind in their development and the visual development of your body is the goal, direct arm training should be added to your training program.

There's a topic among strength-training gurus that seems to raise tempers like no other: whether direct biceps or triceps training is necessary to build great arms.

According to the adherents of the "anti-arm training" camp, direct arm training is not effective. How can you build more mass by doing curls with 15 kilo dumbbells or tricep presses with a 20 kilo barbell when you can row with 130 kilos or do band backs with 150 kilos?

However, a reasonable question is why elite bodybuilders regularly perform 15 to 20 sets of direct biceps and triceps training and have huge upper arms. So what is the answer? Will direct arm training help you, or is it a waste of time?

My story

I've lived on both sides of the argument about direct arm training. During my first two years of training, I did nothing but squats and leg presses because all I wanted was to be able to run faster at football. Then as a teenager, after discovering that mass in the chest and biceps area earns you respect (or envy), I started doing curls and flying movements with dumbbells every lunch break.

Next, I became an elite-level Olympic weightlifter who made fun of guys who spent hours training their arms, which was followed by a phase as a bodybuilder who made fun of strength athletes who were strong but didn't look good naked. Eventually I grew up and started to look at things objectively.

The counter arguments

There are a few legitimate reasons why many experts don't recommend direct arm training:

1. training economy:

Most of the experts (and by this I don't mean internet gurus) who leave out direct arm training are strength coaches who work with athletes. Football, field hockey, baseball players and MMA fighters already perform so much specialized training that they are forced to focus only on the best "value for effort" exercises to recover and perform. These exercises are ideal for improving performance and preventing injury.

These strength trainers therefore do not include direct arm training in their training plans because their athletes build up the necessary strength in their arms through the heavy basic exercises. Any additional gains in arm mass that could be achieved through direct arm training are not worth the time and energy required, which can be used for more important exercises that increase performance, or for rest and recovery.

2. shoulder pain

Performing a lot of direct arm training - especially biceps training - in addition to basic upper body exercises can inflame the biceps tendon - especially at the shoulder joint. The fact is that many "shoulder injuries" in serious strength athletes are actually inflammation of the biceps tendon and these are most commonly seen during the bench press.

3. basic exercises cover everything:

You'll often hear experts say that doing bench presses with 150 kilos will build you bigger arms than doing kickbacks with 7 kilos. This argument makes sense. Rarely will you see someone who can bench press 150+ kilos with clean form, row with 130 kilos or perform pull-ups with 30 kilos of extra weight and have skinny arms.

Furthermore, there would be a lot less "hardgainers" complaining that they can't bulk up if beginners stopped doing endless sets of curls and instead focused on getting really strong on bench presses, deadlifts, squats and barbell shoulder presses.

4. they follow the money:

Another less glorious reason that some personal trainers don't have their clients perform direct arm training is that the client is paying for an hour of training and the trainer would rather spend that time having the client perform exercises that have greater impact on body composition.

The big basic exercises have a systemic effect on the body. Remember the statement that you can stimulate the growth of your arms by doing heavy squats and deadlifts? The theory behind this statement is that these exercises, when performed with heavy weights, have a greater effect on testosterone levels.

More testosterone will lead to greater body-wide protein synthesis and thus heavy squats will stimulate a hormonal environment that is conducive to muscle growth throughout the body.

The case for direct arm training:

There are also compelling arguments for including direct arm training in a strength training program.

1. no weak points:

An early mentor once told me while he was preparing for a set of barbell curls that if you really want to be strong, you can't afford to have a weak muscle. He was an Olympic weightlifter who once held the Canadian record for reps and presses at 192.5 kilos with a bodyweight of 90 kilos, so it was a shock for me to see him perform curls.

In addition, some Chinese Olympic weightlifters routinely train curls and tricep presses. Former Bulgarian star weightlifter Zlatan Vanev performed a lot of curls after recovering from an elbow dislocation to make his elbow stronger.

2 Arm training works:

Bodybuilders are proof that direct arm training builds muscular arms. Yes, there are sprinters and football players who look great without doing bicep training, but the reality is that you will never see the arm development of top bodybuilders in athletes who don't do direct arm training. This is not to say that athletes can't develop great looking arms just by performing the basic exercises - their arms just aren't as bulky as the arms of high level bodybuilders.

Furthermore, you can just walk into a commercial gym on a Friday night and you'll get proof that direct arm training can be effective - dozens of teenagers/young adults with legs like toothpicks, a flat back, but still bulky and muscular arms.

3. beyond the basic exercises:

Due to lever ratios or muscle dominance, some people simply won't build strong biceps or triceps just by performing basic exercises. They will get huge pecs and/or shoulders from bench presses and a muscular back and trapezius from rowing and pull-ups, but their upper arms will not become particularly muscular as a result.

These people need direct arm training to grow their biceps and triceps. If you are interested in getting stronger in the basic exercises, then a sure way to increase performance is to make your weak links in the muscle chain stronger. Sometimes you need to use isolation exercises to strengthen muscle groups that are preventing you from increasing the weight on the basic exercises.

4. heavy is not everything:

We used to think that to grow muscle it was necessary to damage muscle fibers and that we needed heavy weights to achieve this. Now we know that other processes are involved in stimulating muscle growth and that damaging muscle tissue is not only unnecessary but could even be counterproductive.

There are three processes that can lead to muscle hypertrophy that do not require heavy weights and are even more effective when lighter weights and more targeted exercises are used:

1. an activation of the mTOR pathway

We now know that the mTOR pathway, specifically TORC1, is the switch that activates protein synthesis. Studies have shown that mTOR is activated almost exclusively during eccentric actions, which is another argument for emphasizing the eccentric phase, even if this is not the case for the reason previously believed (tiny tears in muscle tissue).

More interestingly, you only need an external resistance equivalent to 60% of your maximum weight for one repetition to achieve optimal activation of mTOR. You do this best by using 60 to 70% of your 1RM and performing very slow negative repetitions where you focus on feeling the muscle during every inch of the repetition.

It is the stretching of the muscle under load that is responsible for this effect. This type of negative repetition will not damage your muscle fibers or affect your recovery, but it will activate one of the main pathways involved in muscle growth.

2. occlusion

This is the practice of depriving the muscle of oxygen while it performs mechanical work. When a muscle is contracted, blood cannot enter the muscle, so oxygen is not delivered. If a muscle never relaxes during a set, then the blood will remain outside the muscle and the muscle will reach a hypoxic state.

This hypoxic state has been shown to be anabolic as it increases the release of IFG-1 - a very anabolic peptide hormone. Obviously, occlusion and constant tension can be achieved more easily during targeted or isolation exercises.

3. nutrient uptake

This occurs at the highest level when you are doing "pump training" or trying to swell a muscle as much as possible. The mechanical contraction of the muscle draws blood and nutrients into the muscle being exercised. So if you use a good pump and amino acid supplement before and during your workout, then you'll be sucking powerful di- and tripeptides into the muscle you're training, which means you'll have all the material necessary to use activated protein synthesis to your advantage.

My verdict

Here are the facts:

1. Direct arm training builds muscle. Any form of resistance training works, so it would be foolish to assume that training a muscle hard under load would have no effect. Load a muscle with weights and make it do mechanical work and adaptation to the training will occur.
2. The return on investment in direct arm training is quite low compared to heavy basic exercises. It is undeniable that you will achieve a greater overall effect by performing deadlifts, squats, pull-ups and bench presses than by performing curls or tricep presses.
3. Training with heavy weights will build muscle mass, but it is not the only way. There are several biochemical processes that stimulate hypertrophy that do not require training with heavy weights.
4. Some people (typically those with shorter arms) will build big arms just by performing heavy basic exercises, while others (typically people with longer arms) definitely need direct arm training if they want to get their arms to grow.

With these facts in mind, my verdict is this:

Beginners should focus on getting much stronger with the basic exercises, as these exercises will have the greatest impact on their body development. At this level, direct arm training is not necessary and should not play a major role in your training program.

However, as a person gets stronger and more muscular, they may find that they need to invest time in some direct biceps and triceps training.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/direct-arm-training-pros-and-cons

By Christian Thibaudeau | 12/30/13