The overwhelming majority of men who own gym memberships will confess that the initial reason they became interested in building a ripped physique was seeing an action hero in a movie while growing up. It's not uncommon to hear movies like Conan and Rocky cited as huge gym influences. Many of them then try to follow the same workout routines of their chosen action hero. The Sylvester Stallone arm workout is a prime example of that mistake.
Looking at the super lean physique you see on screen in the final product, it would be quite foolish to walk into a workout like this with ambitions of taking it easy. Use that vision of the end result as a barometer to tell you that this is going to be very tough.
The workout Sly Stallone used to build his sculpted arms is renowned for it's simplicity and it's brutality. While the exercises are very basic, the techniques deployed are certainly not basic!
This arm circuit is split into 4 stages, running through each muscle in the arm by itself to allow for greater focus on the area in question. We will cover a section for biceps, forearms, triceps and a cool down phase. Each phase is performed as a circuit four times.
Hammer Curl with dumbbells - Feel free to go quite heavy, given that this is the first exercise and your muscles will still be very fresh. Aim for around 12 reps.
Dumbbell Curl on an incline bench - 15 reps with a bench set to a 45 degree angle.
Biceps Curl using an EZ bar - The fundamental biceps exercise, perform 12 reps using a regular grip before switching to a much harder wide grip and forcing out a few more.
Lying Cable Curls - Wheel a bench underneath a dual cable station and attach a straight bar to a high pulley. Perform curls while lying on the bench, curling towards your head. The gravity and cable working against you will ensure that this is a very difficult exercise indeed. Aim for 15 reps on a relatively light weight.
Twisting Chain Curls - Attach a free weight to a chain and hold the chain so the weight is hanging down. Now perform a curl, while twisting your palms to face away from you at the top of each rep. This engages the muscles in your biceps and forearms. Remember, the forearms are a lot smaller and the instability of a hanging plate is very noticeable, thus a lighter weight is required.
Following 4 brutal rounds of the biceps phase, the forearm specific section awaits your attention. Combine Reverse Curls, Wrist Curls, Handshake Curls and Reverse Wrist Curls in a circuit for 25 reps each before finishing off each round with a 30 second timed hang.
The triceps section involves a few big moves to really get the blood pumping. It's the biggest muscle in this workout, so push yourself hard if you want to see an even better return on your results. The first move in this phase is Close-Grip Bench Press, which you owe 10 reps. Try to keep the elbows from flaring out as you perform this, to minimize chest and shoulder involvement.
This leads to your first encounter with Bench Dips. Perform a set to failure before switching to a cable station and pushing out 12 Triceps Pushdowns with a triangle bar. Your second round of Dips then awaits, again going to failure. This phase rounds out with 20 Dumbbell Kickbacks.
For the cool down phase, you will need to perform three body weight planks for 30 seconds each and one single set of Close-Grip Push Ups. Don't be fooled into skipping the cool down phase, for it is vital to ensuring you get maximum results and recovery from your gym session.
Upon completion of this workout you will probably have a huge amount of respect the next time you see an action hero on the big screen with a sculpted, lean physique. The exercises are simple and proven, but the high intensity circuit approach puts a totally new spin on things and proves to be the downfall of most participants.
While everybody has aspirations to train like their favorite action movie star, the Sylvester Stallone arm workout is not for everyone. Before you attempt it, look through each of the exercises and decide upon using significantly lighter weights than you usually would for each move.
Looking at the super lean physique you see on screen in the final product, it would be quite foolish to walk into a workout like this with ambitions of taking it easy. Use that vision of the end result as a barometer to tell you that this is going to be very tough.
The workout Sly Stallone used to build his sculpted arms is renowned for it's simplicity and it's brutality. While the exercises are very basic, the techniques deployed are certainly not basic!
This arm circuit is split into 4 stages, running through each muscle in the arm by itself to allow for greater focus on the area in question. We will cover a section for biceps, forearms, triceps and a cool down phase. Each phase is performed as a circuit four times.
Hammer Curl with dumbbells - Feel free to go quite heavy, given that this is the first exercise and your muscles will still be very fresh. Aim for around 12 reps.
Dumbbell Curl on an incline bench - 15 reps with a bench set to a 45 degree angle.
Biceps Curl using an EZ bar - The fundamental biceps exercise, perform 12 reps using a regular grip before switching to a much harder wide grip and forcing out a few more.
Lying Cable Curls - Wheel a bench underneath a dual cable station and attach a straight bar to a high pulley. Perform curls while lying on the bench, curling towards your head. The gravity and cable working against you will ensure that this is a very difficult exercise indeed. Aim for 15 reps on a relatively light weight.
Twisting Chain Curls - Attach a free weight to a chain and hold the chain so the weight is hanging down. Now perform a curl, while twisting your palms to face away from you at the top of each rep. This engages the muscles in your biceps and forearms. Remember, the forearms are a lot smaller and the instability of a hanging plate is very noticeable, thus a lighter weight is required.
Following 4 brutal rounds of the biceps phase, the forearm specific section awaits your attention. Combine Reverse Curls, Wrist Curls, Handshake Curls and Reverse Wrist Curls in a circuit for 25 reps each before finishing off each round with a 30 second timed hang.
The triceps section involves a few big moves to really get the blood pumping. It's the biggest muscle in this workout, so push yourself hard if you want to see an even better return on your results. The first move in this phase is Close-Grip Bench Press, which you owe 10 reps. Try to keep the elbows from flaring out as you perform this, to minimize chest and shoulder involvement.
This leads to your first encounter with Bench Dips. Perform a set to failure before switching to a cable station and pushing out 12 Triceps Pushdowns with a triangle bar. Your second round of Dips then awaits, again going to failure. This phase rounds out with 20 Dumbbell Kickbacks.
For the cool down phase, you will need to perform three body weight planks for 30 seconds each and one single set of Close-Grip Push Ups. Don't be fooled into skipping the cool down phase, for it is vital to ensuring you get maximum results and recovery from your gym session.
Upon completion of this workout you will probably have a huge amount of respect the next time you see an action hero on the big screen with a sculpted, lean physique. The exercises are simple and proven, but the high intensity circuit approach puts a totally new spin on things and proves to be the downfall of most participants.
While everybody has aspirations to train like their favorite action movie star, the Sylvester Stallone arm workout is not for everyone. Before you attempt it, look through each of the exercises and decide upon using significantly lighter weights than you usually would for each move.
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More help: Popular online personal trainer Russ Howe PTI teaches many people how to build leaner physiques in the gym and at home. Get your quick guide to the full sylvester stallone arm workout for free on his website.
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