I don’t go to the gym - I’m afraid to pump up and become like a pumped-up female bodybuilder!

Having bazooka hands is the dream of almost every boy from the very age when he begins to realize that he is a boy.
Some people do not abandon their childhood dream in their youth, and even in adulthood. Indeed, a guy with muscular arms definitely looks better than a dead guy who looks like a coat hanger. Someone decides to take the easy path and turns into one of the famous synthol freaks like Kirill Tereshin or Arlindo De Souza. However, such self-experiments usually lead to dire consequences. Therefore, we categorically do not advise you to use such an unpleasant thing as synthol, but it is better to pump up your bazooka arms naturally, that is, through training. This way they will be more beautiful, stronger, and last longer. You will learn how to do this from this article. In fact, to quickly pump up your arms, just like any other part of the body, there is no clear recipe. If somewhere you see a miracle program that promises you “100% results in two weeks,” know that you are being scammed. Because success in any training depends on many factors: your genetics, muscle susceptibility to training, the current state of health and the body as a whole, metabolism, hormonal levels, lifestyle, time of year and even your temperament. Those training complexes that give cool gains to your gym partner may well be a waste of time for you. To get a good result, you must methodically and purposefully go through several programs and find the one that will work best for your hands. Below we give general information on how to pump up your arms, and one of the training complexes that you can try. It is likely that he will help you. If not, then you can then try reading this article. Or a separate article about biceps training.

How to pump up your arms: general principles

The main volume and appearance of your arms are given by such large muscles: triceps - the triceps brachii muscle, biceps - the biceps brachii muscle, and the muscles of the forearm.
In fact, there are many more different muscles in the arms, but for our purpose we are interested in the above ones. In order for your arms to look impressive and aesthetically pleasing, you don’t just need to focus on pumping up some favorite muscle, such as, for example, the biceps. It is necessary to pay equal attention to all muscle groups of the hand. You must also remember that the biceps and triceps, as well as the pronators and supinators of the hand, are antagonistic muscles. That is, working against each other. And nature came up with this trick: an imbalance in the development of one of these paired muscles negatively affects the other. The body tries to maintain balance and weakens the muscle group that has pulled ahead. In general, to pump up your bazooka arms, you need to hammer all the muscles equally, and if one suddenly starts to lag behind, train it more purposefully.

1st opinion: You won’t lose weight from dumbbells and push-ups!

Losing weight does not depend on the type of training, but solely on its duration and intensity. If you move for 20 to 40 minutes at a minimum heart rate of 120 to 140 beats per minute, you will burn fat. Muscle growth will begin if you exercise for 15-30 minutes at a heart rate above 170 beats, but an untrained person usually cannot achieve this intensity. And such efforts are not safe for a beginner; you should not strive for them in the first year of training.

You can control your pulse based only on sensations. So, if you start gasping for air like a fish out of water, if the “hammers” are pounding in your head, and sweat flows through your body, your pulse is too high.

Reduce the pace or range of movement, switch to a calmer form (from running to walking, from standing exercises to exercises against a wall or on a mat).

Biceps workout

Biceps are not one of the large muscle groups in the body, so you can train them more often than your back or legs. The ability to recover in small muscles is better and they need less time to rest between workouts than is required for large muscle groups. But still, don't get carried away. If you're completely new to the gym, you should know a thing or two about overtraining . This means that more and more often are not always better. Muscle grows during rest. If you give the muscle little rest, you will get shrinkage instead of growth. If you do not take pharmacology, then it is optimal to train your biceps twice a week. Three - ceiling. And even then, it is permissible to train the biceps three times a week only if your goal is to “pull it up” in case of lag, proportionally reducing the load on other groups during this time.

When training your biceps, remember these rules:

• During training, load it for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Like any skeletal muscle, biceps grow from basic multi-joint exercises. But to correct the shape and work on the relief, use insulation.
• Volume work is 10-12 repetitions in each approach.
• 2-3 biceps exercises per workout is just right. The main thing is not to forget that the exercises should cover both bundles.
• Don’t forget to change your training program every 1.5-2 months. And during the period of working out one program, it will be useful to change the exercises in places, vary the number of approaches and repetitions. Don't forget that your muscles need to be constantly surprised - this will give them an additional impetus for growth.
• It is important to remember that the biceps is actively involved in back movements - various rows and pull-ups. This must be taken into account when creating comprehensive training programs to prevent overtraining.

How long to use the specialization program

about eight months to achieve noticeable roundness of the deltas . five months to visually enlarge the torso (without significant weight gain) due to the pecs, trapezius, lats and deltoids . In the first case, I didn’t put much emphasis on the progression of weights, that is, in theory it was possible to cope faster. In the second, during the mentioned period I reached the maximum working weights in the designated repetition range, after which I changed the training program.

On average, if you follow the progression of loads, you reach the limit in weights in 2-4 months, after which you need to either do active rest for a couple of weeks or change the training program. I touched on this topic in the article below, I recommend you read it:

• How to choose a weight to progress without injury

Triceps work

The triceps, the extensor muscle of the elbow joint, has three bands, as its name suggests. By nature it is larger and stronger than the biceps, since pushing movement is more common in human life than pulling movement. The normal visual volume of the triceps in relation to the biceps is about 60% to 40. The triceps looks impressive both in “triceps” poses and when demonstrating the biceps. Therefore, in order to really pump up your bazooka arms, you can’t neglect the triceps, even if you prefer to “pump your biceps.”

Since the triceps is actively involved in all movements associated with pushing, that is, it is well loaded in bench press training for the chest and shoulders, then, as in the case of the biceps, you need to remember this when developing your training complex. All the recommendations we gave above for biceps are completely suitable for training triceps. Since the triceps have three heads, you need to do 3-4 exercises for it, respectively: such as to give a load to each bundle. The time allotted for its development is, respectively, 40-75 minutes.

Basic development on the horizontal bar

Since childhood, many people do not like the horizontal bar, since pull-ups are too difficult. But this is where you can develop muscles, because almost all exercises are basic. Yes, the horizontal bar can be a great help in developing biceps.

To do this, you need to hold on to the bar with a reverse grip (article on how to properly pull yourself up on a horizontal bar). Hands should be close to each other.

Stock up on a pair of training gloves - without them, after the first week of training, you will have calluses on your hands.

Tips for getting the most out of the exercise:

1. During the first approach, you need to do the maximum number of pull-ups.
2. After two minutes, do a second set, reducing the number of pull-ups by two.
3. Do the third approach after three minutes of rest. The number of pull-ups is the same as during the first approach.
4. Do the fourth, very last approach after a minute of rest after the third. The number of pull-ups is the same as in the second approach.

If your goal is to add definition and endurance to your biceps, then for the first week of classes it is best to perform this program every other day. You work a day, you rest a day. Then you can practice in the following mode: work for three days, rest for a day (if there is no soreness).

To build muscle mass, it is better to limit the number of repetitions to 8-12. If you can do more, then perform approaches with additional weights.

After just a month of such training, you will see how your biceps and latissimus dorsi muscles will increase. The overall picture will be amazing. To develop this muscle, you don’t have to go to the gym and a regular horizontal bar will do just fine.

We train the muscles of the forearm

Do you remember the hands of the cartoon sailor Popeye - a spinach lover? It was funny to see the huge “beaters” finishing off his thin matchstick arms, wasn’t it? But the underdeveloped forearms protruding from the hulk-like shoulders look no less pitiful. Moreover, powerful, voluminous forearms are traditionally considered evidence of masculinity and strength. Therefore, if you are carried away by the idea of ​​pumping up your arms, meaning only biceps and triceps, a lot of attention should be paid to your forearms.

The difficulty of pumping up the forearms is that they are involved in all arm movements without exception, when there is some kind of load in the hands, and also perform a lot of other dynamic and static work. This makes them extremely resistant to stress, that is, it is much more difficult to “surprise” them with training than other muscle groups. In this they are inferior, perhaps, to the muscles of the lower leg. So to increase the volume of your forearms you will have to work hard on them.

It is better to work on the forearms after the main workout or on a separate day. Some athletes even dedicate a separate mini-training session for them. This is explained by the fact that after a good workout of the forearms, it will be quite difficult to normally hold a barbell, dumbbells or crossbar in your hands. This means that the quality of training of other muscle groups will suffer.

Don't forget that your forearms not only flex and extend your hand, but also clench and unclench your fingers into a fist. Therefore, your training program must include grip strength exercises. This can be work with wrist expanders, as well as traction using thickened bars and handles or special thickening pads.

I don’t go to the gym - I’m afraid to pump up and become like a pumped-up female bodybuilder!

A small sociological study we conducted showed that most girls, young women and young women avoid training in the gym for one insanely stupid reason. “Training with iron leads to excessive muscle growth, which looks ugly. I'm afraid of overpumping. And a pumped-up woman – is that beautiful?” - this is the answer of a typical representative of the fair sex to the offer to train in the gym with weights.

It turns out that women are especially afraid that constant training with weights will make them look like male weightlifters. So, our myth today is called: “pumped woman.”

Will I become a bodybuilder?

To dispel this legend, you just need to look at the photo we offered of the woman who posed for us for this article. Her name is Elena, she works as a fitness trainer in our sports center. She not only periodically (I would even say enthusiastically) works with heavy weights, but also has excellent technique for performing all the exercises from the arsenal of bodybuilding and fitness. Do you think she looks somehow ugly? Moreover, she is not an amateur, but a real professional who has been working on her body regularly for more than 10 years. Draw your own conclusions...

As a professional trainer who understands something in this matter, I must authoritatively declare, dear ladies, that if you want your body to be healthy, beautiful and sexually attractive, you cannot do without working with weights. If you want to prevent such degenerative changes in the body as osteoporosis, which actively develops with age, you will have to take the handles of dumbbells in your palms and, having selected the appropriate music for sports, begin to move actively. And your main phobia should not be “I’m afraid of pumping up”, but “I’m afraid of not pumping up”! - Yes, I think it will be right...

Will I be pumped up like a man?

All the talk about over-bulking is complete nonsense. Because even a slaughter-heavy diet and super-powerful training methods for bodybuilders will not help to give your muscles a bulky appearance. Your body simply will not allow you to pump, and without the use of special medications this is not at all easy to do. You can't do without chemistry here. Moreover, harsh hormonal chemistry. There is a special type of exercise - sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, which results in overly huge muscles, like those of bodybuilders. Women using this technique need to constantly be on a whole complex of hormonal drugs (anabolic steroids) and eat huge amounts of food to fuel active muscle growth.

Well, I hope you don’t plan to do this? Or ARE YOU PLANNING? - then you got a little wrong in the section - this is your thread. But first, look at these photos...

...and think: do you need it?

If you first use your own body weight as a weight in exercises to strengthen the muscles of the torso, then you will soon need specialized equipment and equipment for this, including a fitball, TRX suspension loops and rubber shock-absorbing bands. By including core exercises in your training program at a very early stage, you can later avoid the most common mistakes regarding other aspects of training. And this, as a result, will give you the opportunity to make a stronger swing with a golf club, and qualitatively improve the technique of hitting a tennis racket, and even get those treasured relief “cubes” on your tummy.

Well, what sport would be complete without energetic, catchy music? As the famous saying goes: the song helps us live and love! Therefore, we recommend that you download free music for sports here: https://yesbeat.ru - an excellent mega-portal for all music lovers, where you can easily find songs, soundtracks, backing tracks and themes for every taste, and for quality training as well ! We recommend!

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A typical program that will help you pump up your bazooka arms

Monday:

1. Close grip bench press – 3x10
2. Standing biceps curl* – 3x10
3. Standing French barbell press with pick-up – 3x10
4. Lifting dumbbells for biceps with supination while sitting on an inclined bench - 3x12
5. Push-ups on narrow bars to parallel – 3x12
6. Lifting the barbell for biceps with a grip – 3x12
7. Working with a hand expander – 4x20

Wednesday:

1. Reverse close grip pull-ups – 3x10
2. French bench press - 3x10
3. Standing dumbbell curls with supination – 3x12
4. Extension of the arm with a dumbbell from behind the head while sitting – 3x10
5. Hammer curls – 3x12
6. Seated wrist extensions with a barbell – 4x20

Tips for Fast Progress

Use these tips, be persistent and exercise regularly - you will feel the results very soon

Author of the article: Shesternenko Alexander Yurievich

Sports doctor, nutritionist, rehabilitation specialist Provides general consultations on nutrition, selection of a diet for pregnant women, weight correction, selection of nutrition for exhaustion, selection of nutrition for obesity, selection of an individual diet and therapeutic nutrition. Also specializes in modern methods of functional testing in sports; athlete recovery.

2nd opinion: It is useless to go to the gym to lose weight!

Firstly, simulators are different. For example, cardio equipment - a treadmill, an exercise bike, a stepper, an ellipsoid and others - is an excellent analogue to walking, skiing, cycling or skating. On a rainy or frosty day you can’t do without them.

Secondly, the so-called “strength” exercise machines (with weights, blocks and cables) can also be used in fat-burning mode. So, “jocks” put heavy weights on them and do 8–10 repetitions with them, then rest for a long time. And those who are losing weight need to select a light weight and do 15-30 repetitions with a short rest before the next approach.

Such training will strengthen the muscles, increase their tone and blood circulation in them, due to which fat burning will increase, but will not give significant growth. At the same time, training on simulators is relatively safe: the loads move along a strict trajectory, there is no risk that an arm or leg will turn in, go to the side and crush you under the weight.

READ MORE: Exercises with a tubular expander for women and men