For a lot of men biceps and triceps are considered their trophy muscles. They keep working to make them bigger and bigger. Their huge size is the mark of countless gym hours they’ve spent working on them. From time to time you hear someone claiming that he has discovered a new way of routine to make his arms swell in no time. One notable guy is Rich Piana.
Who’s Rich Piana?
Rich Piana is someone who is obsessed with huge arms. That has been his life since he was 11 years old. Rich has tried a lot of workout s and exercises routine to get big and one thing that made big news among the swollen bros is his
8 hour arm workout.
Rich Piana claimed that this workout has given him an inch of arm size increase that’s permanent. It was not just inflammation or swelling that comes after a rigorous workout.
This workout consists of 16 mini workouts half an hour apart. That totals to 8 hours straight of arm-swelling exercises. After each mini workout, you take protein shakes. Sixteen workouts, sixteen shakes.
Are you ready to take on this challenge?
Preparations
Two days before you do the workouts you need to rest. No exercises, no workouts of any kind are allowed. During these two days, you need to make sure you get enough protein and complex carbohydrates in your diet. The usual 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight will do. You want your body to have enough energy to actually go through the coming 8 hours of extreme workout.
Workouts
There are two workouts you need to do alternately every half an hour; let’s call them workout A and B. Workout A consists of skull crusher and barbell curl. You do four sets for each, ten reps per set. Workout B consists of single arm dumbbell extension and dumbbell hammer curls. Four sets for each, fifteen reps per set. Take a minute rest after each set.
For this challenge, you should use lighter weights than the ones you usually use. Remember, you’ll be doing this for 8 hours. If you force yourself using heavy weights, your form will fall apart after the first 4 hours and the next hour you will keep failing the reps.
A quick math shows that you will do 320 reps of skull crushers and barbell curls plus 480 reps of dumbbell extensions and hammer curls. Even with the amount of rests you get after each workout that’s still a lot of reps. Completing this challenge without using lighter weights is virtually impossible.
After completing workout A or B drink your protein shake to feed your muscles. The amount of protein shake is, of course, not the same amount you take when you just completed a two hours exercise. The portion will be smaller. You only need about 20 grams of protein powder per serving. Your body can only metabolize so much protein. Too much and you will be wasting them down the toilet.
Obviously, you’re going to need to prepare different flavors otherwise you’ll dread every gulp after the fourth. Personally, I think the main challenge of the
8 hour arm workout does not lie on the workouts but the fact that you need to drink protein shake every half an hour. Even taking two of those a day is already a challenge for me.
To make things more bearable you can do half-and-half. Prepare some baked salmon, scrambled eggs, chicken breast, and your other favorite sources of protein. So you go with shake, salmon, shake, eggs, and so on. After all, protein shakes are meant as supplements and should never replace real food. You also have plenty of time after completing each 4 sets before you need to continue with the next one. There is plenty of time to chew real food.
After The Workouts
Once you complete this 8 hours of hellish exercise you need to spoil yourself with the biggest meal you can muster. Chomp down as many carbohydrates and proteins your stomach can take. You need this to replenish your energy.
Just like the preps, you’re going to spend the next two days chilling. Frankly, even if you want to exercise your arms won’t be listening to you anyway. So, rest and eat like you normally do.
Does It Work?
Yes, it works. There are plenty of skeptics out there who decided to try this for a laugh and they reported real growth. This result will certainly vary from one person to the next since they had different basic conditions prior doing this challenge. They also used different weights and you can be sure there were minute differences within those long 8 hours.
The Alternatives
If 8 hours of weight lifting seems too crazy for you don’t worry. There are plenty of alternatives to get bigger arms. Things like heavy compound lifts are well known for their effectiveness in getting swole arms.
You can do dips, close grip bench presses, barbell rows, military press, clean and jerks, or bodyweight exercises like pushups, chin ups, and pull ups.
Bench presses are great for your biceps, triceps, forearms, and grips. When you push the bar upward your triceps are working hard to extend your arms. Your biceps are also doing heavy work all throughout the motion. Biceps act as stabilizers so your arm can move in upward and downward motion instead of moving back and forth. Of course, your grip strength is being tested here too.
Chin ups are excellent for biceps. When you flex your elbow to get to the bar your biceps are getting real workout. When lifting your bodyweight is getting too easy, you can start using chin up belt and give your biceps even more challenge.
Seriously, when you have the time to go to the gym do those compound workouts. They are not as psychologically demanding as the
8 hour arm workout. If you still insist on doing that make sure you do thorough preparation and watch your form on every single rep. Lousy form is bad for your growth and it will increase the risk of injury. Stay safe, bro.
