THE TWELVE STEPS TO GREAT GUNS

We could have used any
number of steps, but
we chose 12 because
big arms are an addiction over
which most people are powerless.
Like alcohol, drugs and any
other substance that requires
treatment, the only remedy for
the quest for big arms is a good
rest of what we’ve listed below.
Diet, of course, is crucial for all
growth, so an “arm diet” isn’t
necessarily what you’d eat for a
good pair of them alone. You’ll
benefit from a great diet under all
circumstances because you’ll be
feeding and rebuilding your body
in a way that optimizes muscle
growth and minimizes wasting or
fat retention.
You can’t go wrong with these
twelve prescriptions – both for the
arms or for any body part workout.
1. Periodization
A lot has been written on this
topic, but not a lot of guys really
know what it is if you ask the
question, “What kind of periodization
do you follow in your workouts?”
Periodization is merely the
way in which you categorize and
organize your workouts.
Periodization is an organized approach
to training that involves
progressive cycling of various
aspects of a training program
during a specific period of time.
The roots of periodization come
from Hans Selye’s model, known
as the General Adaptation Syndrome,
which has been used by
the athletic community since the
late 1950s
Periodization is in place in a
bodybuilder’s repertoire to avoid
one thing: Overtraining. But it’s
also there to alternate high loads
of training with decreased loads
to continually keep the muscle
guessing and in its best condition.
There are three types of periodization
cycles: the microcycle, the
mesocycle, and the macrocycle.
The microcycle is generally 7
days. The mesocycle may be
anywhere from 2 weeks to a few
months and can further be classified
into preparation, competition,
peaking, and transition phases.
The macrocycle refers to the
overall training period, usually
representing either six months or
a year.
Think of the micro, meso and
macro cycles as a way to view
the workout up close and from a
distance. It’s important to be able
to do this because a) it means
you actually have a plan, and b)
you know where you’re going
and why. In other words, there’s
a method to your madness. And
we definitely know you’re mad to
hoist the kind of weights you do!
PERIODIZED WORKOUT TYPES
Traditional: Volume and intensity
are systematically manipulated.
Training cycle begins with
a high-volume, low-intensity
profile, then progresses to low
volume, high intensity over time.
Step wise: Like the traditional
model, intensity increases and
volume decreases during the training
period. Volume is decreased
during the training period. Volume
is decreased in a stepwise fashion:
Repetitions are reduced from eight
to five, five to three, and so forth,
at specific time intervals.
Undulating: Training volume
and intensity increase and decrease
on a regular basis: but they
do not follow the traditional pattern
of increasing intensity and decreasing
volume as the mesocycle
progresses (Fleck 1999).