*This article is reprinted with the kind courtesy of FLEX Magazine (January 2009)

I’ll gladly give you my best triceps workout, but the workout itself is only incidental to the story.  Adding the most mass in the quickest manner is a total program comprising not merely exercises, sets and reps, but training schedules, recuperation, intensity, technique, principles, mental involvement and a host of other factors that define us as bodybuilders; however, to allay your impatience, I’ll start with the workout.

My first triceps exercise is pushdowns: two warm-up sets of 15 and 12 reps; then, one all-out heavy set for eight to 10 reps; then,  plus forced reps and negatives.  Exercise two is Lying EZ-curl bar triceps extensions: one warm-up set of 12 reps, followed by one all-out heavy set of eight to 10.  Movement three is a one-arm triceps extension machine exercise, no warm-up, going right into one all out heavy set of eight to 10.  That’s it.

Virtually everyone, amateurs and pros alike, want to hear more, but what I just told you is all that’s needed, provided you know what you’re doing and apply the proper ratio of recuperation and intensity.  That’s a big proviso.  Recuperation requires willpower to find that precise point between too much and too little; and intensity is your mental ability to generate almost superhuman concentration and power for every rep.

My advice is to first educate yourself as to the function of every muscle in your body and how to perform every exercise perfectly.  Without that knowledge, you cannot totally dominate and control the muscle you will be working.

Next, hone your powers of concentration.  Withdraw into your own mind with memorization exercises – for example, by focusing on memorizing an entire page at a time of a classic or technical book – so that it becomes an out-of-body and into-your-mind experience.  You will need that degree of mental strength to maximize your physical strength for one all-out, maximum set per exercise.  Next, apply that concentration to what we call the mind-muscle connection; except that I’m not talking about mere awareness of the muscle contracting, but of actually being inside the muscle, becoming one with it, fighting for your life to go beyond that final repetition, feeling the last fiber twitch and collapse, so that it’s impossible to even contemplate another set.  That’s it for that exercise.  Now, try another exercise in the same manner; chances are that will finish you for the day.  If you’re able to do more than three exercises at that level, you were dogging it.  Work harder.

With this type of intensity, you will need lots of rest between sets.  Don’t fall for the stupid machismo of training as fast as you can.  Remember that you are taking yourself to a level that is several times beyond that of those who are counseling you, are certainly beyond any level they’ve experienced.  Rest only long enough to restore your strength to 100%; any longer and you slip into lassitude.  Adjust your training schedule accordingly.

Bodybuilding is not weight and repetitions; it’s resistance and absolute muscle failure.  It’s not quantitative; it’s qualitative.  It’s more mental than physical.  It’s more control than rage.  It’s the realization that you can always get bigger.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Training.