Ashley Hoffmann has one of the best physiques in the biz. Here are 5 of her favorite arm-building tips you can use in your workouts or in Ashley’s own arms blitz!
[su_box title=”1) Don’t Сheat” style=”noise” box_color=”#fff” title_color=”#2e383f”]
We’ve all seen it: the guy doing biceps curls with his hips and lower back instead of his arms. Sure, challenging yourself with big weights every now and again can be helpful, but consistently choosing weight that’s so heavy you have to swing it isn’t going to get you much stronger.
“The key to a good arms workout is keeping your elbows at your sides,” says Ashley Hoffmann. “Use only your biceps or triceps to do the exercises, not your body’s momentum to move the weight.” Whether you’re doing curls or extensions, keep your elbows pinned to the side of your body, which will stop you from using body English to move the load.
In order for your biceps and triceps to grow, you need to make sure that they’re the muscles being stressed. If you use your body to move the weight, you take away from the workload your arms could be doing, which could mean less change in the target muscle group.[/su_box]
[su_box title=”2) Squeeze at the Top” style=”noise” box_color=”#fff” title_color=”#2e383f”]
One key to building lean mass is keeping your muscles under tension. The best way to do this is by increasing the length of each rep by pausing for some extra squeeze at the top of the movement. “When I do biceps and triceps exercises, I try to act like I’m flexing,” says Ashley. “That way I know I am really targeting the muscles.”
Yes, your muscles will be working throughout any exercise, but extending the time that your muscle is in its peak contraction can really increase its size. That squeeze can increase the number of muscle fibers you activate. The more muscle fibers involved in your lifts, the bigger your muscles can get.[/su_box]
