Training Techniques
Advanced training methods from Arnold's Encyclopedia to break plateaus and maximize growth.
philosophy biceps training
BICEPS TRAINING: Biceps have always been one of Arnold's best body parts. When he was young, building up his biceps was especially important, so he worked very hard and soon they blew up like balloons
21s
TWENTY-ONES (21s): A technique that divides the range of motion into segments. Most commonly used for biceps curls: perform 7 reps in the lower half of the movement (arms extended to 90 degrees), then
drop sets
DROP SETS (STRIPPING METHOD): Performing a set to failure, then immediately reducing the weight and continuing for more reps, repeating this process 2-4 times. Example: Dumbbell Curls - start with 50
forced reps
FORCED REPS: After reaching failure on your own, a training partner provides just enough assistance to help you complete 2-4 additional reps. The partner should help as little as possible—just enough
pre exhaust
PRE-EXHAUSTION: Performing an isolation exercise immediately before a compound exercise for the same muscle group. The isolation exercise fatigues the target muscle, so when you do the compound moveme
pre exhaustion
Pre-exhaustion involves performing an isolation exercise for a muscle group immediately before a compound exercise for the same group. Example: Dumbbell flyes (isolates chest) immediately followed by
supersets
SUPERSETS: Performing two exercises in succession with no rest between them. Types: (1) Same-muscle supersets - two exercises for the same body part (e.g., Barbell Curls + Concentration Curls). Increa
advanced intensity
ADVANCED INTENSITY TECHNIQUES: These techniques allow you to push past normal failure and stimulate additional muscle growth. They should be used sparingly—not every set, not every workout—to avoid ov
split training
SPLIT TRAINING SYSTEMS: As you advance in bodybuilding, you need to do more sets and exercises per body part to continue making progress. This makes it impossible to train the entire body in one sessi