Per Bernal
Morel’s typical triceps/biceps routine consists exclusively of supersets and high volume. But every month or so, he switches up his arm workout and sticks to straight sets on every exercise with lower volume (roughly half the number of sets as usual), short rest periods, and high reps. The routine at right is an example of this. “I like doing this workout every once in a while,” says Morel. “It’s very effective. Pushing every set for 20 reps or so and taking less rest sometimes feels just as hard as doing the supersets with more volume. The muscles get extremely fatigued and burned out.
“I think for arms, because they’re such small muscles and they get utilized when doing back, chest and shoulders, you need to go a little lighter, control the weight, and keep rest periods short. I had lagging arms at one point, and the way I made them grow was by taking shorter breaks and just getting as much blood into the muscles as possible. Make your arms look double the size while you’re training—that’s how sick of a pump you want to have.”
Per Bernal
CABLE PRESSDOWN (V-HANDLE)
START Attach a V-handle to a high pulley cable. Stand facing the weight stack and grab the bar with an overhand grip. Begin with your forearms just above parallel with the floor and your elbows in close to your sides.
EXECUTION Keeping your elbows in, contract your triceps to extend your elbows until your arms are straight. At the bottom, squeeze your triceps, then slowly raise your hands back to the start position.
MOREL SAYS “I like keeping the elbows pointed toward the oor the whole time on these. Some people let the weight pull their elbows up at the top of the rep so it ends up being somewhat of a swinging motion. When you do that, the shoulders get involved. I don’t like my elbows to move at all during the set; I want my upper arms to be stationary to keep constant tension on the triceps.”
Slow and controlled is the name of the game. Morel focuses on the squeeze to make sure his triceps are doing all the work to get the most out of this standby move.
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Per Bernal
SEATED E-Z BAR OVERHEAD EXTENSION
START Sit on a low-back seat holding an EZ-bar with an overhand grip. Begin with the bar overhead and your arms extended.
EXECUTION Bend your elbows to lower the bar behind your head, then contract your triceps to extend your elbows and return to the start position.
MOREL SAYS “I bring the weight all the way down to where the bar is behind my head at the bottom of each rep. Sometimes I see people go all the way up, but then they won’t go down very far. I think the stretch at the bottom is very important on this exercise for maximal triceps stimulation.”
Though not shown here, Morel does indeed lower the bar all the way down to his neck for a complete stretch before extending back up to the top for a full contraction.
Per Bernal
CABLE EZ-BAR REVERSE-GRIP PRESSDOWN
START Secure an EZ-bar attachment to a high pulley cable. Stand facing the weight stack and grasp the bar with an underhand grip. Begin with your forearms just above parallel with the floor and your elbows in close to your sides.
EXECUTION Keeping your elbows in, contract your triceps to extend your elbows until your arms are straight. Squeeze your triceps, then return to the start position.
MOREL SAYS “It’s important to get that nice squeeze at the bottom to make sure you’re fully contracting the triceps medial head, which is the targeted area when using the reverse grip.”
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Per Bernal
EZ-BAR CABLE CURL
START Attach an EZ-bar to a low pulley cable. Stand a foot or two in front of the weight stack and grasp the bar. Begin with your arms extended toward the floor and your knees slightly bent.
EXECUTION Keeping your elbows in at your sides, curl the weight up as far as possible. Squeeze the contraction for a count at the top, then return to the start position.
MOREL SAYS “Cables provide a slightly different feel for me than barbell or dumbbell curls. When you’re using free weights, there’s a tendency to go too heavy. With cables, I feel a better isolation in the muscles and a better squeeze at the top. You don’t have to go as heavy to stimulate the muscles in my opinion.”
Using the mirror to see your biceps working during cable curls is a good way to make the mind-to-muscle connection. Of course, learn to do it without the mirror.
Per Bernal
EZ-BAR PREACHER CURL
START Sit on the seat of a preacher curl bench and grasp an EZ-bar. Begin with the backs of your upper arms at against the pad and your elbows just short of fully extended.
EXECUTION Keeping your upper arms against the pad, curl the bar up as far as possible. Squeeze your biceps at the top, then slowly lower the bar to the start position.
MOREL SAYS “Always keep your wrists straight on preacher curls; don’t let hands come forward or drop down. Keeping them straight gives you a nice squeeze on the biceps when you come all the way up. At the bottom, I stop a little short of full extension at the elbows to reduce the risk of tearing a biceps.”
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Per Bernal
ALTERNATING DUMBBELL CURL
START Stand holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides with your arms extended toward the floor. Begin with your palms facing in and your knees slightly bent.
EXECUTION Keeping your elbow in at your side, curl one dumbbell up while simultaneously turning your palm up and out so that at the top of the rep it faces slightly outward. Squeeze your biceps for a count in this position, then slowly lower the dumbbell back to the start position. Repeat with the other arm, alternating back and forth.
MOREL SAYS “A lot of people go too heavy on this exercise and end up using the rest of the body to lift the weight up instead of just the biceps. I think a moderate weight that you can handle is better than trying to use 80-pound dumbbells.”
Per Bernal
MOREL'S ARM WORKOUT
TRICEPS
- Cable Pressdown | SETS: 4 | REPS: 20-30
- Seated EZ-Bar Overhead Extension | SETS: 4 | REPS: 15-20
- Cable EZ-Bar Reverse-Grip Pressdown | SETS: 4 | REPS: 20
BICEPS
- EZ-Bar Cable Curl | SETS: 4 | REPS: 20
- EZ-Bar Preacher Curl | SETS: 4 | REPS: 20
- Alternating Dumbbell Curl | SETS: 4 | REPS: 20
NOTE: Rest periods are 30 to 45 seconds between all sets. Morel increases the weight on every set for all exercises. On his last set or two of each exercise, he’s reaching complete muscle failure.
Per Bernal
MOREL'S TRAINING SPLIT
- Sunday: Quads, hamstrings, calves
- Monday: Chest, triceps, biceps
- Tuesday: Back, shoulders
- Wednesday: Quads, hamstrings, calves
- Thursday: Chest, triceps, biceps
- Friday: Back, shoulders
- Saturday: Rest*
*Depending on his schedule, Morel sometimes trains legs on Saturday; if he does, Sunday becomes a rest day.
FLEX
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