6 unique arm exercises for better workouts

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Here’s everything waiting for you in today’s newsletter:

• 6 interesting and unique arm exercises

• The importance of compound lifts

• Should you really train to failure?

Exercise Selection

Mix It Up

Boredom may be an ailment brought about by the ease of modern-day life, but that doesn’t make a general sense of ennui any less soul-sucking. Doubly frustrating is when this dullness infects the best day on the lunar calendar: arm day.

If you've been doing the same biceps and triceps exercises for years, these six unique alternatives are the perfect antidote. The best part is that you don't need any new equipment to add some spice to your bis and tris. 

Zottman and drag curls can be done with whatever free weights or cable machines you have lying around. JM presses can be done with a barbell, EZ curl bar, or SSB bar (handles removed) to liven up your dreary afternoons. 

We've got six exercises designed to shake things up, along with full tutorials and pointers on maximizing your next arm day. We're basically doing everything except lifting the weights for you. (That gives us an idea for a new subscription service…)

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Try This

A Biceps Workout for Strength

To get stronger arms, you need to load up on the weight and use fewer reps and sets. It’s also important to make sure the training volume isn’t too low, though, so it doesn’t diminish some of your strength and muscle growth. 

If you’re looking for that sweet spot, tinker around with the workout below on your next arm day. It’s a mix of body weight moves and standard barbell fare, but we think it hits all the right notes.

Lifting Science

Compound Interest

If lifting weights and being strong are your priorities, compound lifts occupy one of the top spots on your list of “most important things to do.”

You’ve probably heard of a few of the most popular ones. Squats and bench presses are compound lifts. So are deadlifts and power cleans. In this context, the word compound means using more than one joint. A simpler way to explain compound lifting is the use of exercises that work your entire body at once, leading to:

• More muscle activation

• Higher loading potential

• Time-efficient training

This is opposed to an isolation exercise — think biceps curls and calf raises — which only work one targeted muscle. Both types of lifts have their merits, but harnessing the power of compound lifts could kick your training into overdrive.  

In the guide below, we walk you through the importance of compound lifts, the science behind the benefits, and which ones you should stick to.

Training

Fail With Style

Working to failure has a certain paradoxical allure to it. In the same way that we learn from our mistakes and take lessons from our losses, can we also make the best gains in our muscular development by actually failing to lift?

As with most things in the Collected Fitness Universe, the answer is a solid maybe. A recent study found that subjects experienced similar quad growth when they trained to absolute failure as they did when they trained 1-2 reps away from failure.

So, is failure passé? Well, not necessarily. Dr. Layne Norton recently broke down the study and gave some tips on when (and when not) to train to failure, depending on your goals.

The Results Are In!

In Wednesday’s edition of The BarBend Newsletter, we asked you to vote on your favorite protein snacks. Here are the results:

For more healthy protein snack ideas, check out this list.

Quick Hits

🏁 Drag This: Proving that peak fitness isn’t reserved for athletes who wear tight-fitting spandex, drag racing champion Antron Brown discusses how CrossFit makes him a better racecar driver.

🥶 Chill This: Cold plunges are all the rage in both the fitness and health communities. Dip your body into some icy water with the top cold-retaining containers being sold right now.

📺 Watch This: Do you think you can handle La Sierra High School’s infamous gym class from the 1960s? It might be best to just get a note from the nurse.

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