**Cómo Tener BRAZOS GRANDES de Verdad: lo Que Nadie te Explica — Transcript & Summary | SozAI**
Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/tener-brazos-grandes-secreto/

Complete arm training guide focusing on biceps, triceps, and elbow flexors with science-backed exercises and programming tips.

## Key Takeaways

- Arm growth is achievable regardless of genetics with the right knowledge and training approach.
- Training the biceps involves more than just the biceps brachii; the brachialis and brachioradialis are equally important.
- Exercise selection and grip variations significantly influence which muscles are targeted and how effectively.
- Proper programming and technique are crucial for maximizing hypertrophy and avoiding injury.
- Myths about arm training splits and muscle isolation are oversimplifications; a more integrated approach is recommended.

## What the video covers

- The video promises a comprehensive guide to arm growth, emphasizing that genetics do not limit muscle development.
- It clarifies common misconceptions about training the biceps by explaining the role of all elbow flexor muscles: biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis.
- Detailed discussion on the anatomy and function of arm muscles, supported by MRI data and scientific studies.
- Explains the best exercises for each muscle group, including variations like hammer curls and preacher curls, and their impact on muscle activation.
- Debunks myths such as training triceps only on push days and biceps on pull days.
- Highlights the importance of exercise technique, grip variations, and range of motion for optimal hypertrophy.
- Provides guidance on programming volume, frequency, and intensity for arm workouts.
- Discusses the role of triceps heads and how different exercises affect them.
- Emphasizes the importance of quality execution over quantity in training sets.
- Offers a holistic approach combining science, practical testing, and personalized coaching.

## Chapters

1. 00:00 Introduction and Overview
2. 04:11 Understanding Biceps and Elbow Flexors
3. 08:31 Best Exercises for Brachioradialis and Grip Variations
4. 12:51 Anatomy and Importance of the Brachialis
5. 17:14 Hypertrophy Studies and Exercise Resistance Profiles
6. 21:51 Triceps Muscle Group and Exercise Effects
7. 27:32 Exercise Technique and Shoulder Positioning
8. 32:11 Programming, Volume, and Training Quality
9. 36:28 Summary and Consultation Offer

Answers

## Questions about this video

Do genetics limit arm muscle growth?

No, the video emphasizes that genetics do not matter when it comes to arm growth if you apply the correct training principles and techniques.

What muscles are involved in bicep curls besides the biceps brachii?

Bicep curls primarily involve three muscles: the biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis, which all contribute to elbow flexion.

Is it necessary to train triceps only on push days and biceps on pull days?

The video debunks this myth, suggesting that muscle training should not be rigidly split this way and that an integrated approach is more effective.

## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:01

Speaker A

If you watch this entire video, your arms will grow, no matter what. And not because I'm smarter than anyone else or because I'm going to show you the best exercises, because I can tell you right now that you don't know that, but

00:12

Speaker A

because I promise you that what you're going to see here, if you stay until the end, is the most complete arm guide you'll ever see in your life. This information will literally blow your mind and you'll never train your arms

00:22

Speaker A

because I promise you that what you're going to see here, if you stay until the end, is the most complete arm guide you'll ever see in your life. This information will literally blow your mind and you'll never train your arms

00:34

Speaker A

them smaller than you'd like, because I assure you that genetics don't matter here. And we at the Eracles Team know all this information because we don't just train guided by science, but we also test everything we preach on our

00:46

Speaker A

the same way again. And I know this is going to be a longer video than you're used to, but I assure you that I've condensed into the shortest possible time all the information you need to make your arms explode and stop seeing

00:58

Speaker A

parts. First, we'll talk about the front of the arm, which everyone mistakenly knows as the biceps. We'll look at the muscles that make it up, what the latest science says about them , and what the best exercises are to

01:09

Speaker A

them smaller than you'd like, because I assure you that genetics don't matter here. And we at the Eracles Team know all this information because we don't just train guided by science, but we also test everything we preach on our

01:20

Speaker A

intensely to train your arms, and I'll also teach you the only techniques that are truly effective for optimizing your arm workouts. Oh, and we'll debunk that famous myth that it's best to train triceps on push day and biceps on pull

01:33

Speaker A

own skin every day with our advisors. If you don't believe me, here are some physicists who have changed the size of their arms since they started training with us. And to make the video easier, we're going to divide it into several

01:44

Speaker A

typical question of what the best exercise for biceps is, and I always say the same thing. Are you sure that what you want to develop is the biceps and not the elbow flexors? And yes, I know it may sound pedantic, but I want

01:53

Speaker A

parts. First, we'll talk about the front of the arm, which everyone mistakenly knows as the biceps. We'll look at the muscles that make it up, what the latest science says about them, and what the best exercises are to

02:03

Speaker A

biceps, you're actually talking about something bigger. When you do bicep curls, even though in the gym we all say that we're training biceps, you're actually training a much broader pattern, elbow flexion. And that action depends mainly on three muscles: the

02:16

Speaker A

make them grow. Then we'll do exactly the same with the triceps, a muscle group that many people underestimate compared to the first one. And finally, you'll learn how to program each of the exercises, how much, how often, and how

02:21

Speaker A

And this, which may seem like an unimportant anatomical detail, I assure you will completely change the way you choose your exercises from now on. When you understand that there are several elbow flexors working at the same time, you begin to see that a cool hammer

02:34

Speaker A

intensely to train your arms, and I'll also teach you the only techniques that are truly effective for optimizing your arm workouts. Oh, and we'll debunk that famous myth that it's best to train triceps on push day and biceps on pull

02:45

Speaker A

your arm, in MRI data, the brachialis had practically the same volume as the biceps brachii and the brachius radialis was almost half the volume of the biceps. So we are not talking about decorative muscles, as you will see. We

02:58

Speaker A

day. Grab some popcorn, because we're getting started. Okay, now that we know that, let's start with the front of the arm. And the first nuance is very important. I can't tell you how many times in my life I've been asked the

03:08

Speaker A

exercise that turns off one muscle and turns on another. That would be an oversimplification that sells very well on social media, but it does not represent how the body works. The three muscles always collaborate when you bend your elbow. What changes is that

03:20

Speaker A

typical question of what the best exercise for biceps is, and I always say the same thing. Are you sure that what you want to develop is the biceps and not the elbow flexors? And yes, I know it may sound pedantic, but I want

03:33

Speaker A

people associate this muscle directly with the forearm, and it makes sense because a large part of its muscle mass projects towards that area, but it also greatly influences how the arm looks near the elbow, especially on the outside. If you are someone who was

03:48

Speaker A

to ask you the same question. I'll repeat it so that you don't have to rewind the video. Are you sure that what you want to develop is the biceps and not the elbow flexors? You see, when you say that you're going to train

03:58

Speaker A

brachioradialis may be your best strategy. It is this muscle that, when well developed, makes an arm not look like a ball of biceps at the top, but rather a more complete structure from the elbow to the forearm. To work it

04:11

Speaker A

biceps, you're actually talking about something bigger. When you do bicep curls, even though in the gym we all say that we're training biceps, you're actually training a much broader pattern, elbow flexion. And that action depends mainly on three muscles: the

04:26

Speaker A

. Also, when you do it as a dumbbell, the exercise is usually more difficult in the middle area of the range, which we have already seen is an area where the brachior radialis can apply force quite well. And that is why an exercise

04:38

Speaker A

biceps brachii, which is what we commonly know as the biceps, the brachialis, and the brachioradialis.

04:49

Speaker A

radialis only works when you do cool hammer. In any pulling exercise where there is elbow flexion, whether it is rowing, pull-ups, or chin-ups, the brachior radialis will definitely be worked because it is part of the elbow flexor group, as is the analytical

05:02

Speaker A

And this, which may seem like an unimportant anatomical detail, I assure you will completely change the way you choose your exercises from now on. When you understand that there are several elbow flexors working at the same time, you begin to see that a cool hammer

05:16

Speaker A

mistake. Many people go directly to a completely prone grip looking down, thinking that this will be even better for the brachior radialis, but it is not necessarily. The prone grip can cause the biceps to lose advantage and the brachior radialis to gain relative

05:32

Speaker A

curl, a cool preacher curl, and a cool vallesian curl do not provide exactly the same result, although for most people they are just three bicep exercises. To give you an idea of the size that these muscles contribute to

05:45

Speaker A

restriction point behind the elbow, heavy, with full range of motion. And if you want to be more specific, you can finish the lift with a slight pronation, but with a nuance, not as an excuse to turn it into a weirdo where

05:57

Speaker A

your arm, in MRI data, the brachialis had practically the same volume as the biceps brachii and the brachioradialis was almost half the volume of the biceps. So we are not talking about decorative muscles, as you will see. We

06:09

Speaker A

is to work your forearm in a complete way too, things change. So leave me a comment if you want me to make another exclusive video explaining how to develop your forearms for real. Now let's move on to one of the most

06:21

Speaker A

are talking about structures that can greatly change how your arm is going to look, especially near the elbow and towards the forearm. But before seeing how to work each one, I want to make it clear that we are not talking about an

06:30

Speaker A

more space than most people think and can change the appearance of your arm quite a bit. It is located below the bicep, yes, but that doesn't stop it from being visible or important. In fact, in its most proximal part, that

06:43

Speaker A

exercise that turns off one muscle and turns on another. That would be an oversimplification that sells very well on social media, but it does not represent how the body works. The three muscles always collaborate when you bend your elbow. What changes is that

06:51

Speaker A

It is precisely that area that many people notice empty when they have a shorter bicep, as I have said, or when the arm only seems big when flexing it.

06:58

Speaker A

depending on the grip, the position of the shoulder, the material, and even the resistance profile, some are in a more favorable position than others to apply force. And this is precisely what we are interested in knowing. Let's start with the brachioradialis. Many

07:11

Speaker A

the elbow and rotating the forearm. The brachialis only has one important function, flexing the elbow. That is why it does not really care how you place your hand. When you do a cool grip with a handstand, palms up,

07:22

Speaker A

people associate this muscle directly with the forearm, and it makes sense because a large part of its muscle mass projects towards that area, but it also greatly influences how the arm looks near the elbow, especially on the outside. If you are someone who was

07:34

Speaker A

position to bend the elbow regardless of your grip. In other words, the biceps is very sensitive to how you place your hand, the brachialis is not.

07:41

Speaker A

born with a very short bicep and a very long tendon, and you have a hard time making the area near the elbow look full to the point that you don't notice that you are training your arm until you bend it, developing the

07:54

Speaker A

, right at the beginning of the range of motion? In that area, the brachialis usually has a very interesting mechanical situation to participate in elbow flexion. That is why it is not only the grip that matters, but also

08:04

Speaker A

brachioradialis may be your best strategy. It is this muscle that, when well developed, makes an arm not look like a ball of biceps at the top, but rather a more complete structure from the elbow to the forearm. To work it

08:17

Speaker A

but because it limits swinging, allows for standardizing the range of motion, and can generate interesting demand in the initial or middle zone of the movement where the brachialis can play a very important role. Other variations such as the cool vallesian or the

08:31

Speaker A

well, the neutral grip is usually one of the best options, that is, the classic cool hammer. When you do cool hammer with your palms facing each other, the brachioradialis is very well aligned to participate in elbow flexion, especially around 90 grams of flexion.

08:43

Speaker A

of motion where the greatest demand occurs. So for now the important idea is this. The brachialis will work in practically any cool curl, but if the goal is to give it an important role in an arm strategy, I would prioritize

08:54

Speaker A

Also, when you do it as a dumbbell, the exercise is usually more difficult in the middle area of the range, which we have already seen is an area where the brachioradialis can apply force quite well. And that is why an exercise

09:06

Speaker A

the muscle that everyone has in mind when they think of arms, the biceps brachii or more commonly known as the biceps. The biceps, as its name suggests, has two heads, the long head and the short head. And this is where

09:18

Speaker A

as simple as the cool hammer with dumbbells is not only still a very useful tool, but it is probably the best exercise to prioritize the brachioradialis. Now, an important nuance, this does not mean, as I have already said, that the brachioradialis only works when you do cool hammer. In any pulling exercise where there is elbow flexion, whether it is rowing, pull-ups, or chin-ups, the brachioradialis will definitely be worked because it is part of the elbow flexor group, as is the analytical

09:29

Speaker A

forearm. First, by its insertion. Unlike the brachialis, which inserts into the ulna, the biceps inserts into the radius. And this is important because when you rotate the forearm, its orientation around the ulna changes . That's why the grip does modify the

09:42

Speaker A

action of elbow flexion. Another thing is whether the work is sufficient if you want to develop it specifically, because in a pull-up it also depends a lot on the back, technique, grip, stability, and fatigue. And be careful, because there is another typical

09:56

Speaker A

lot to do with its insertion into the radius. When the forearm rotates, the radius changes its orientation around the ulna and with it the orientation of the biceps tendon also changes. In its pination, the biceps is better positioned to pull on the radius and

10:09

Speaker A

mistake. Many people go directly to a completely prone grip looking down, thinking that this will be even better for the brachioradialis, but it is not necessarily. The prone grip can cause the biceps to lose advantage and the brachioradialis to gain relative

10:21

Speaker A

we're talking about developing the biceps as an elbow flexor, the handstand grip usually makes a lot of sense, because what matters is the orientation of its fibers with respect to the joint and, with the handstand grip, it is perfectly prepared to apply

10:34

Speaker A

prominence, of course, but biomechanically it is not usually a cleaner option than the neutral grip and usually loses relief, comfort, and ability to progress. That is why for most people I would start by mastering a good, stable grip, even with a

10:41

Speaker A

Both heads of the biceps cross the shoulder region. And yes, both, although many people do not know this and think that only the long head crosses the shoulder, the long head is the one that is usually especially influenced when we talk about changes

10:54

Speaker A

restriction point behind the elbow, heavy, with full range of motion. And if you want to be more specific, you can finish the lift with a slight pronation, but with a nuance, not as an excuse to turn it into a weirdo where

11:07

Speaker A

such an elongated position. On the other hand, when you bring the shoulder into extension, as occurs in a vallesian curl or an inclined curl, the biceps starts from a more elongated position and especially that long head.

11:17

Speaker A

you lift less and make worse progress, although later in the video we will see how to program all these exercises and include them in your routine. With this we already know all the basics we need about the brachialis. If what you want

11:30

Speaker A

stretches the biceps more, so it’s automatically better.” Because hypertrophy doesn’t just depend on muscle length, it also depends on where the greatest external demand comes from , how much you can load, the stability of the exercise, the range of motion,

11:43

Speaker A

is to work your forearm in a complete way too, things change. So leave me a comment if you want me to make another exclusive video explaining how to develop your forearms for real. Now let's move on to one of the most

11:55

Speaker A

movement, but they don’t load the entire range of motion the same. The question isn’t just whether the bicep is longer or shorter. The good question is at what point is it longer, where does the exercise weigh the most, and

12:08

Speaker A

underrated muscles in the arm, the brachialis. And while you watch it on the screen, I want you to pay close attention to one thing. This is not a small muscle that is just there for filler. The brachialis takes up much

12:17

Speaker A

And of course we can reason very well from a mechanical perspective, but then we have to look at what happens when this is trained over a week. So now we’re going to move on to the experimental part. What do studies tell

12:27

Speaker A

more space than most people think and can change the appearance of your arm quite a bit. It is located below the bicep, yes, but that doesn't stop it from being visible or important. In fact, in its most proximal part, that

12:39

Speaker A

exercises section, of course you can, but I recommend that you invest these 4 or 5 minutes because knowing what scientific studies say will clear up most of your doubts forever. But before we see what science says, there are two

12:51

Speaker A

is, the part near the shoulder, it can be clearly seen when the

13:00

Speaker A

distal area, I will be referring to this area, which is closer to the elbow . And the second nuance is that, when a study measures muscle thickness in the arm with ultrasound at different points , for example, more proximal, middle or

13:12

Speaker A

distal, it can detect regional adaptations; that is, it can see if one area of the arm has increased more than another. But be careful, because that does not always tell you which specific muscle has grown. And this is very

13:24

Speaker A

important because if we measure the elbow flexors near the elbow in the distal area, we are not only looking at the biceps. As you have seen in the anatomy, the brachialis and, depending on the measurement point, even part of

13:35

Speaker A

the brachior radialis can also have a great influence. So if a study finds more distal hypertrophy of the elbow flexors, we cannot automatically say that the lower part of the biceps has grown more. The biceps may have grown,

13:47

Speaker A

the brachialis may have grown, the brachior radialis may have grown, or it may be a combination. And with that in mind, we can now interpret the studies better. One of the most interesting studies compared the preacher cool with

13:58

Speaker A

the leaning cool. The preacher cool seemed to favor the distal region of the elbow flexors more, while the leaning cool did not show the same pattern. At first glance, you might say , "Okay, the preacher works the lower

14:09

Speaker A

part of the vice more," but that reading would be too quick. If the study measures the thickness of the elbow flexors together and the distal area has a lot of brachialis presence, a very reasonable interpretation is that part of that distal hypertrophy

14:22

Speaker A

comes precisely from the brachialis. And this fits in with what we explained before. The preacher, due to how it positions the shoulder and where it loads the path, can be a very interesting option to build thickness in the anterior and distal part of the

14:36

Speaker A

arm. Then we have another study also comparing the preacher and the inclined one. And here the reading becomes even more useful. The preacher favored the distal growth of the elbow flexors, while the inclined one now favored proximal growth more. And this

14:50

Speaker A

reinforces an important idea, which is that they do not seem to be redundant exercises. It is not that one is good and the other bad, they are probably biasing the stimulus differently. The preacher seems to fit better with a

15:02

Speaker A

distal thickness strategy, where the brachialis can have a lot of weight, and the inclined one seems to fit better with a strategy where the biceps , especially in more proximal areas, can receive a different stimulus due to the position of the shoulder and its

15:15

Speaker A

resistance profile. Now, the problem with these studies is that they continue to measure the thickness of the elbow flexors by areas. They see that one region grows more, but they do not perfectly separate which muscle is generating that growth, so here we

15:27

Speaker A

continue to have the doubt. And here comes a very interesting piece of information. We have a study where they compared the inclined cool curl and the preacher cool curl, but this time measuring it by magnetic resonance imaging and they measured the biceps

15:37

Speaker A

brachii, the brachialis and the brachior radialis separately. And the result fits very well with the interpretation that we are making. The total volume of the elbow flexors increased similarly with both exercises , but the inclined cool curl seemed to

15:49

Speaker A

favor the biceps brachii more, while the preacher curl seemed to favor the brachialis and the brachior radialis more. And this is now key because it helps us understand that when you see more distal growth in ultrasound studies, perhaps you are not simply

16:02

Speaker A

seeing more distal biceps, perhaps you are seeing that other Elbow flexors such as the brachialis are growing more . And now come the studies that will help us not to get too clever, because up to this point we have seen very

16:13

Speaker A

useful comparisons, but where many things change at the same time. When you compare a preacher cooldown with an incline cooldown, you are not just changing one exercise for another. You are changing the shoulder position, the bicep length, the resistance profile,

16:27

Speaker A

the stability, the point where the exercise weighs the most and possibly which muscle ends up being the protagonist. So the next question we should ask ourselves is something like, what happens if we try to isolate each variable better? And to do that, we

16:39

Speaker A

first look at the resistance profile. A study that compared two ways of doing the preacher cooldown, one on a pulley and the other with a barbell, fits in very well here. The idea was super interesting because in both cases the

16:49

Speaker A

exercise was still the preacher cooldown, that is, the shoulder position and muscle length were quite similar. What changed mainly was where the exercise weighed the most. In the barbell preacher cooldown, the greatest demand appeared closer to the beginning

17:01

Speaker A

of the range when the elbow was more extended and the biceps were more elongated. Whereas in the cable preacher the greatest demand appeared towards the end of the range, when the elbow was more flexed and the biceps more shortened. And the result was very

17:14

Speaker A

useful for not falling into the error of oversimplification. Both groups gained hypertrophy in a very similar way. Now, this does not mean that the resistance profile does not matter, it means that at least in that context, changing where the exercise weighs more

17:29

Speaker A

within the range was not enough to produce clear differences in hypertrophy in that study. It can affect the feel of the exercise, the specific force at certain angles, the comfort, the stability and even the ease with which you fight close to

17:42

Speaker A

failure and how you progress. But we cannot say that if the exercise weighs more low, it will automatically produce more hypertrophy. So, now we come to the next logical question. What happens when we change the position of the

17:54

Speaker A

shoulder, but try to better match the resistance profile? And that is where the study that compared the cool cable preacher with the cool Ballesian comes in. In theory, The Ballesian would have a very compelling argument, which is that it places the shoulder in

18:06

Speaker A

extension, lengthens the biceps more, and could expose it to more stress over long lengths. But here they tried to match the resistance profile between exercises, and when they did that, the major differences virtually disappeared . Both exercises produced hypertrophy.

18:19

Speaker A

They both worked, and there were no statistically clear differences in either the biceps brachii or brachialis regions. But there is an important nuance. If we look at the direction of the data, the Ballesian showed descriptively slightly greater increases than the biceps brachii,

18:33

Speaker A

while the preacher showed descriptively slightly greater increases in the brachialis. In fact, the authors themselves do an additional analysis where they suggest that the Bayesian may have biased the stimulus slightly more toward the biceps, while the preacher may have shifted it slightly

18:47

Speaker A

more toward the brachialis. This fits very well with everything we've been saying. Lengthening the biceps more due to shoulder position does not automatically make the besan a superior exercise, although This could slightly change which muscle receives more prominence within the set of elbow

19:03

Speaker A

flexors. In other words, if you match the resistance profile, the range, the effort and a good part of the exercise conditions, that theoretical advantage of the shoulder position may not translate into more hypertrophy. And this idea is further reinforced by a

19:18

Speaker A

very recent study that compared the cool volley with the shoulder in a neutral position versus an individualized position of maximum shoulder extension. Here they also tried to match the resistance profile and the range of motion of the elbow.

19:30

Speaker A

Results, the arms increased the thickness of the elbow flexors, but there were no significant differences between training with the shoulder more extended or more neutral. And here there is an important nuance to make.

19:39

Speaker A

This study measures the thickness of the set of elbow flexors, it does not perfectly separate the biceps and the brachialis. So it allows us to talk about elbow flexors as a group, but not to say with total certainty which

19:50

Speaker A

specific muscle has grown the most. So, putting it all together, the conclusion is not do preacher and forget about the lean, nor is it do Ballesian, because the biceps are more stretched and this will always be better. The real

20:02

Speaker A

conclusion is much more useful when we compare very different exercises such as preacher curls or incline curls.

20:09

Speaker A

Regional adaptations can appear. The preacher curl tends to favor more distal areas and the incline curl more proximal areas. But when we try to separate the variables better by matching the resistance profile, range of motion, effort and exercise

20:23

Speaker A

conditions, the differences seem to be greatly reduced. That is why elbow flexor hypertrophy probably does not depend on a single thing. It depends on an interaction between shoulder position, biceps length, resistance profile, stability, range of motion, grip, proximity to failure and which

20:39

Speaker A

muscle is actually growing. So the practical conclusion is not to look for a magic exercise; the good conclusion is to combine exercises that make sense : a stable and progressive exercise that builds general thickness in the elbow flexors, a variation that changes

20:53

Speaker A

the shoulder position and the stimulus on the biceps, and a specific option to better cover the brachius radialis. And now, with all this clear, let's get down to business. Let's see which exercise I would choose to develop the

21:05

Speaker A

anterior part of the arm and how I would combine them. Now let's get practical. And if at any time you have disconnected with so much biomechanics, so many proximal and distal regions, resistance profiles, brachialis, biceps , brachior radialis, don't worry,

21:17

Speaker A

because I'm going to make it very easy for you now. The first thing you need to understand is that after everything we've seen, the idea is not to leave this video with the best exercise in the video. The idea is to leave knowing

21:27

Speaker A

what each exercise does. To properly develop the anterior part of the arm, I would try to cover three needs. The first need is a stable, progressive and difficult to phase base. And here my favorite is usually the preacher cool.

21:39

Speaker A

It can be done on a pulley, with a bar, with a dumbbell or on a well-designed machine. The exact name matters less to me than it allows you to stabilize the arm, standardize the path, progress and get close to failure without turning

21:51

Speaker A

the cool into a hip swing. And as we saw in the previous section, I wouldn't use it because it's the best. Pure biceps exercise. I would use it because it can probably be an excellent base for building general thickness in the

22:04

Speaker A

elbow flexors, including biceps and probably a lot of brachialis work. Second need, a variation that combines the shoulder position and gives the biceps another different stimulus. This is where variations such as the cool biceps or inclined cool come in. As we

22:16

Speaker A

have already seen, the fact that the biceps work more lengthened does not automatically make it a superior exercise, but it does allow you to complement the preacher with a different position, especially interesting for the long head of the

22:21

Speaker A

biceps. The Ballesian makes a lot of sense as long as you position yourself well on the pulley. The inclined one makes more sense. As a simple option, eat horns assuming what we saw before, it does not reproduce exactly the same

22:27

Speaker A

initial demand as a well-planned Ballesian. I would not include them as magic exercises, but as a way to complement the preacher from another shoulder position and another stimulus for the biceps. Third need, better cover the brachius radialis. This is

22:34

Speaker A

where the cool hammer comes in and as we have seen, the cool hammer and as we have seen, inclined makes more sense.

22:37

Speaker A

As a simple option, eat horns assuming what we saw before, it does not reproduce exactly the same initial demand as a well-planned Ballesian. I would not include them as magic exercises, but as a way to complement the preacher from another shoulder

22:48

Speaker A

position and another stimulus for the biceps. Third need, better cover the brachius radialis. This is where the cool hammer comes in and as we have seen, Before, the brachium radialis can change quite a bit how your arm looks

23:00

Speaker A

near the elbow and towards the forearm. And if you only do supine cooldowns, you can leave that area less worked directly. That's why a neutral grip, stable, heavy, well-executed hammer cooldown makes a lot of sense. So with a simple strategy, a base for general

23:15

Speaker A

thickness, preacher cooldown, a variation to change the shoulder position and stimulate the biceps in a different way, ballesian cooldown or incline cooldown, and a variation to better cover the brachium radialis, hammer cooldown. With these three patterns you already have a lot. And if

23:29

Speaker A

you're lucky enough that the arms aren't your top priority, you could even stick with something very simple, preacher and hammer. There you already cover a solid base of elbow flexors and brachium radialis. On the other hand, if the arms are your priority, I would

23:40

Speaker A

add that third piece, ballesian or incline cooldown. For example, day one, preacher cooldown and hammer cooldown.

23:46

Speaker A

Day two, ballesian or incline cooldown and hammer cooldown. And from there we can adjust volume, frequency. and recovery with more criteria. Ultimately , the key is not to accumulate biceps exercises, but to be able to look at your routine and understand why each of

23:59

Speaker A

the exercises is there. One is to build general thickness in the elbow joints, another to change the position of the biceps and another to better cover the radial bracket; but there is still an important part missing, which is to

24:10

Speaker A

include all this in a real routine, because it is one thing to choose good exercises and quite another to know how many sets to do, when to do them and how to use resources such as partial repetitions without turning them into

24:20

Speaker A

an excuse to train worse. Although we will see that later, because if you recall this is a video to talk about how to get bigger arms and for that we have to talk now about the other big star of the video, the triceps. And I

24:32

Speaker A

say another big star because although almost everyone associates big arms with the biceps, the triceps represents a huge part of the total volume of the arm. In fact, if we compare the triceps with the biceps brachii as an isolated

24:46

Speaker A

muscle, the data from MRIs suggest that the triceps may be approximately 2.6 times larger in volume. So when someone wants big arms but only thinks about biceps, they're starting off wrong.

24:56

Speaker A

Part of that size difference comes from something very simple. The triceps has three heads, the lateral head, the medial head, and the long head. And before we get into exercises, it's worth understanding a basic bit about its anatomy, because it's going to help

25:09

Speaker A

us dispel one of the most common myths about triceps training. The three heads of the triceps converge on a common tendon, the triceps tendon, which ends up inserting on the ulna. This already gives us an important first clue.

25:21

Speaker A

Unlike the biceps, which inserts on the radius and is greatly influenced by the pronation and supination of the forearm , the triceps does not insert on the radius. So when you rotate your hand and go from a pronated grip to a

25:31

Speaker A

supinated grip, you're not directly changing the length of the arms. triceps heads. Yes, exactly as it happened with the brachialis. And this is important because it has been repeated in the gym for years that the pronated, supinated or neutral grip can

25:44

Speaker A

change which heads of the triceps are worked, but that explanation is too simple. It's not that the grip doesn't change anything; it can change the comfort, the stability of the wrist and even the number of repetitions that you

25:55

Speaker A

achieve. It can also change the involvement of the forearm, the torque that is placed on the wrist and in some cases the acute activation. In fact, there is a study with high pulley elbow extensions with the shoulder neutral,

26:06

Speaker A

where the supinated position of the forearm with a handle increased the electromyographic activity of the long head of the triceps and allowed to do fewer repetitions than the pronated position. But the reading should not be the handstand grip for the long head.

26:19

Speaker A

The explanation is probably more subtle . The authors propose that with the pronated grip, the wrist flexors could be more involved in stabilizing the wrist and indirectly contributing to the gesture, reducing some of the demand on the triceps. In Instead, with

26:33

Speaker A

the supinated grip, that assistance is less and the exercise becomes more difficult and the long head may have to take on more work. So yes, the grip can modify how the exercise feels and how the difficulty is distributed, but I

26:43

Speaker A

would not use it as the first criterion to choose a triceps extension and much less would I use it to confirm that a particular grip is going to produce more hypertrophy of a particular head in the long term. The truly important

26:54

Speaker A

criterion comes when we stop looking only at the common insertion and look at where the heads originate. The lateral and medial heads originate on the humerus and mainly cross the elbow, but the long head has a huge peculiarity in that it originates on

27:08

Speaker A

the scapula. It crosses the shoulder and then reaches the elbow along with the rest of the triceps. This means that the long head does not depend only on what happens at the elbow, it also depends on the position of the shoulder

27:18

Speaker A

. And this is where the interesting part of training begins. When you raise your arm above your head and also flex your elbow, the long head is in a much more stretched position than it is in the the classic extension with the

27:28

Speaker A

shoulder close to the body. And that's why overhead elbow extensions make so much sense in a triceps routine, not because they're a fad in the gym right now, but because they put the long head in a position that many presses and

27:40

Speaker A

pushups don't. And this brings us directly to the next point. If the long head depends so much on the shoulder and the elbow, then we can't put a press and an analytical triceps extension in the same bag. Both can

27:54

Speaker A

work the triceps, of course, but they don't demand exactly the same amount of it. So we come to the first practical debate. Presses versus extensions.

28:02

Speaker A

Presses work the triceps, that's obvious. Bench press, incline press, military press, dips, press saw, JMPress and Cazpress. They all involve elbow extension to a greater or lesser extent. And some even have a lot of elbow extension. But here's an

28:16

Speaker A

important nuance. In a press, not only does the elbow move, the shoulder also moves. And if we come from Understanding that the long head of the tricep crosses both joints, this should already make us suspect that a press

28:27

Speaker A

and an analytical triceps extension do not demand exactly the same from the muscle. In a press, the triceps helps extend the elbow, but at the same time the shoulder is also moving and failure can come from many sources. Pectoralis

28:40

Speaker A

thoracic vertebrae, scapular stability, technique, range of motion, coordination or general fatigue. On the other hand, in a well-planned elbow extension the movement is much more directed to the triceps. Not because it is an analytical exercise and that automatically makes it superior, but

28:55

Speaker A

because it reduces many of the external limitations that can appear in a press and makes the triceps more likely to be the limiting factor in the sets. And this is not just a biomechanical deduction, there are interesting studies where they train with presses,

29:08

Speaker A

for example, with dumbbells, that is, an exercise where there is elbow extension, but also shoulder movement.

29:13

Speaker A

The interesting thing is that by measuring with magnetic resonance both the acute activation and the muscle tone, the muscle tone is measured with an MRI. of the triceps after the first session as hypertrophy adaptations after the training period, the triceps

29:24

Speaker A

grew. The press generated hypertrophy in the triceps, but the growth was not uniform. The middle and distal regions of the triceps, where the medial and lateral heads carry more weight, clearly increased. However, the most proximal region, which is the one

29:39

Speaker A

almost entirely occupied by the long head, grew much less. In fact, when they specifically measured the thickness of the long head, they did not observe a significant increase and this fits very well with the idea that we have been building. Presses can be

29:51

Speaker A

useful for the triceps, but they do not seem to be the best tool to ensure complete development, especially of the long head. And here the mechanical hypothesis makes a lot of sense if we consider its biarticular nature. During

30:02

Speaker A

a press, the long head participates, through its distal end, in the extension of the elbow; so, in that part, it tends to be cut. But at the same time the shoulder also moves and this movement can place it in a

30:13

Speaker A

situation of its length. Total. It doesn't change in such a clear way as in an analytical elbow extension.

30:19

Speaker A

Simply put, while the elbow is asking for one thing, the shoulder may be asking for practically the opposite.

30:24

Speaker A

Something similar happens with other biarticular muscles, such as the rectus femoris in a squat or a press. By the way, I'll leave you a video here about the development of the quadriceps in case you're interested in this topic.

30:35

Speaker A

So, the long head is not turned off in the presses, far from it, but its function as a biarticular muscle may be in a kind of mechanical conflict, while the lateral and medial heads that mainly cross the elbow have a much more

30:47

Speaker A

direct task, extending the elbow. That's why it doesn't surprise me that in that study the middle and distal regions grew more, while the long head did not increase significantly. The press can stimulate the triceps, but it may not be enough to fully develop the

31:00

Speaker A

long head. And here comes the practical application. For the vast majority of people, it wouldn’t make much sense to add even more specific work with movements that mix elbow extension and shoulder movement such as the close press, JM press or CAD press, if

31:13

Speaker A

you’re already doing a fair amount of presses in your routine. And not because these exercises aren’t useful , but because they’re often an inefficient way of adding more triceps work. They require more coordination, more time, more systemic fatigue, and

31:27

Speaker A

they still have similar limitations to other presses. If you already have heavy presses in your week, the most efficient thing to do is usually to keep them as a compound base and then add more analytical elbow extensions where you can better direct the

31:41

Speaker A

stimulus to the triceps, accumulate quality volume, and probably achieve a better stimulus-fatigue ratio. The idea is not to choose between presses or extensions, but to understand what each one provides. Presses already give you a high load, compound work, and

31:54

Speaker A

indirect stimulus for the triceps. But if you want to develop the triceps more completely, that is, optimize it, especially taking into account the long head, elbow extensions make a lot of sense for your routine. And this takes us directly to the next section. Okay?

32:07

Speaker A

We have already said that for most contexts it makes sense to prioritize analytical elbow extensions when we want to work the triceps more specifically. But now comes the important question. If the long head also crosses the shoulder, where do I

32:19

Speaker A

place my arm while doing that elbow extension? Because doing a push-up with the arm close to the body is not the same as doing an overhead extension, katana or transverse extension. And here we have to separate two things,

32:30

Speaker A

what biomechanics tells us indirectly and what longitudinal studies tell us when a person trains and is followed throughout the week. First, the biomechanical part. There is a very interesting study that analyzed the role of the long head of the triceps

32:43

Speaker A

during elbow extension with different degrees of shoulder elevation, 0, 45, 90, 135 and 180 degrees. And the result is very useful to understand the problem. With the shoulder low, close to the neutral position, the long head of the triceps generated more force and

32:56

Speaker A

showed more activation than the lateral and medial heads. But as the shoulder was elevated, that role changed.

33:02

Speaker A

Starting at 90 grams of elevation, the medial head began to gain much more prominence as an extensor of the shoulder. And this makes sense if you think about the anatomy. The long head, as we have said, is biarticular, it

33:12

Speaker A

crosses the shoulder and crosses the elbow. Therefore, when you raise your arm, it stretches much more than the lateral and medial heads, which do not depend on the position of the shoulder in the same way. The problem is that

33:22

Speaker A

more stretch does not always mean more ability to apply active force. If the long head is in an excessively elongated position, its ability to produce active force could be compromised. And when that happens, the other heads, especially the medial head

33:37

Speaker A

, may have to take on more of a leading role in order for elbow extension to continue occurring. This is one of the keys to the entire section. A more elongated position may be interesting for hypertrophy, but we can't simplify

33:48

Speaker A

it to the point of saying that the more the triceps are stretched, the better.

33:52

Speaker A

Now, this study helps us understand the mechanics, but it is still indirect evidence. It tells us about strength, activation, and we could speculate about muscle length. And this is observed in different situations, and this is great for generating hypotheses

34:06

Speaker A

, but it doesn't tell us directly what will happen with hypertrophy after several weeks of training. For that, we need longitudinal studies. And here we have two main studies that compare something very similar. Elbow extensions with a neutral shoulder

34:19

Speaker A

versus elbow extensions with the shoulder elevated, like overhead or overhead. The first is by Stasinaki and colleagues. In this study, novice women trained for six weeks. One arm would do a pushdown with the triceps in a shorter position and the other arm

34:33

Speaker A

would do an overhead with the long head working at a longer length. Both protocols increased strength and muscle architecture measures, but they found no clear differences between training at shorter or longer lengths. At first glance you might say, "Okay, so

34:48

Speaker A

overhead and pushdown," but that reading, my friend, if you're here, you should already know is too quick. First , because the study had a small sample size and only lasted 6 weeks. And second, because the range of motion of

35:01

Speaker A

the overhead brought the elbow into a much more flexed position than other protocols we're going to look at now.

35:06

Speaker A

This is important because if you elevate the shoulder too much and also flex the elbow too much, the long head can end up in an extremely elongated position. And if we connect this to the previous study, where we saw that when

35:19

Speaker A

elevating the shoulder, the long head can lose its ability to apply active force, one possibility is that part of the difference between studies comes from how the range of motion was configured. There may be a sweet spot, elongated enough to benefit from

35:34

Speaker A

working at long lengths, but not so elongated that the long head loses too much tension capacity and the exercise becomes less tolerated or efficient.

35:44

Speaker A

And here comes the second study that for me is the most important. Maeo et al. compared overhead triceps extensions versus neutral arm extensions. One arm was overhead and the other was neutral. But the protocol had several advantages. First, it

36:01

Speaker A

lasted 12 weeks. Then, it used an intrusive design. It measured muscle volume with MRI. It limited the range of motion of the elbow between 90 grams of flexion and full extension in both protocols. That is, the long head

36:13

Speaker A

worked in a clearly more elongated position with shoulder elevation, but the elbow was not brought to such extreme flexion as in the previous one.

36:20

Speaker A

And here the result was quite powerful. The overhead protocol produced more hypertrophy of the long head, more hypertrophy of the lateral and medial heads, and more hypertrophy of the entire triceps. Furthermore, it occurred even using lower absolute loads, and this data is very

36:35

Speaker A

interesting for two reasons. The first is the most obvious, the long head grew more with the overhead, which is exactly what would make sense if you are placing yourself in a more elongated position. But the second piece of data is almost more striking,

36:47

Speaker A

and that is that the lateral and medial heads also grew more, although these heads do not cross the shoulder. And here the authors propose several possibilities. One is force substitution. If the long head is very elongated and loses part of the active

37:00

Speaker A

capacity to apply force, as we saw before, the lateral and medial heads could have to provide proportionally more force to extend the elbow. In other words, the overhead not only lengthens the long head more, but it could also force the other heads to

37:13

Speaker A

work more in certain areas of the range . And in the case of the long head itself, another important nuance may come into play here. Although a very elongated position may reduce its active tensile capacity, it may also

37:25

Speaker A

increase its passive tension. In other words, it may not be able to produce as much active force by shortening, but the tissue is still subjected to high mechanical tension due to working at longer lengths. And this could help us

37:40

Speaker A

explain why even using lower absolute loads and although the long head may lose part of that active capacity, the overhang ended up generating more hypertrophy in that head, but I would leave that as a hypothesis, not a closed explanation. Another possibility

37:54

Speaker A

is that keeping the arm above the head partially reduces blood flow or venous return, increasing local metabolic stress. This could help explain why the monoarticular heads also grew more, although the length did not change as much between conditions. We cannot be

38:09

Speaker A

sure which of these mechanisms weighs more, and this is important. We do not have to turn this study into religion or say that any overhead extension is automatically going to be superior to any pushdown. But with what we have so

38:21

Speaker A

far, the most reasonable practical reading is this. When comparing a neutral shoulder elbow extension to an elevated shoulder extension in isolation, the overhead variation seems to have the advantage for triceps hypertrophy, especially the long head and possibly the entire triceps as well

38:37

Speaker A

. Now, this doesn't mean that everyone should do a 180-degree shoulder extension, and it doesn't even work for me. Completely overhead and in a perfect sagittal plane. In fact, for many people, this position is uncomfortable, requires a lot of

38:52

Speaker A

shoulder mobility, can cause you to arch your back, can even bother the elbow, and can place the long head in a too aggressive stretch point if you also allow a lot of elbow flexion. So my practical application of all this

39:05

Speaker A

would not be to always do the most extreme overhead position possible. My interpretation would be a little more refined. Since the long head originates from the scapula and crosses the shoulder, it makes sense to raise the arm to work it at a longer length than

39:19

Speaker A

in a classic pushdown, but it is not necessary to take the shoulder to the maximum possible range. The goal is to find a position that allows you to train hard near failure with good technique for weeks, without your

39:30

Speaker A

shoulder or elbow being the limiting factor. So putting it all together, my conclusion would be this. Traditional extensions are not garbage, far from it . They are an excellent tool for adding stable volume, controlling technique, and accumulating triceps work with good

39:44

Speaker A

tolerance. But if I had to choose just one main variation to develop the triceps more completely, especially considering the long head, I would prioritize some elbow extension with the shoulder elevated, not necessarily at 180º in a pure transverse position,

39:58

Speaker A

but a variation where the arm is elevated enough so that the long head receives a different stimulus than a classic pushdown. And in fact, my preference is a variation that I will now explain how to perform, why it

40:10

Speaker A

makes sense, and why in practice it tends to be my favorite for most people on our team. Because once you understand the logic behind neutral shoulder and elevated shoulder, the important thing is no longer to discuss exercise names, the important thing is

40:23

Speaker A

to choose variations that you can perform well, progress and combine without including five movements that all do the same thing. So let's get practical. When it comes to triceps hypertrophy, there are three things that weigh heavily: shoulder position,

40:35

Speaker A

stability and the ability to progress close to failure. That's why my base for building triceps would be an elbow extension with the shoulder elevated but stable. And this is where my favorite variation for most people comes in. A pulley extension in the

40:48

Speaker A

scapular plane, that is, slightly to the side, katana style, with the shoulder slightly in front and out from the body and with a moderate elevation of the shoulder. It's not a behind-the-neck position at 180 grams, but it's not a push-down with the arm

41:01

Speaker A

close to the body either. It's a very interesting middle ground. The shoulder is elevated enough for the long head to work more elongated than in a classic push-up, but usually without requiring as much mobility and generating as much

41:14

Speaker A

discomfort as a completely vertical overhead. And that's why I like it so much, because it not only makes sense from a biomechanical point of view, but also from a practical point of view. It allows you to place the long head in an

41:24

Speaker A

interesting position, maintain a fairly natural trajectory of the elbow and better stabilize the shoulder and get closer to failure without the position being the limiting factor. And here I want to emphasize something, we are not looking for a variation that stretches

41:36

Speaker A

the triceps the most. In theory, we are looking for the variation that can be repeated well throughout the week, because for hypertrophy, stability is not a minor detail. If the exercise is unstable, if the shoulder moves all the

41:47

Speaker A

time, if the elbow dances or if the back arches to survive each repetition, in the end the triceps ceases to be the limiting factor and that is precisely what we want to avoid. In fact, if you look at how some of our Heracles Team

41:58

Speaker A

advisors train, such as Ángel, you'll see that many times we're not looking for the strangest exercise, but rather the one that allows us to position the body correctly, repeat the technique, and progress without breaking the entire movement. And by the way, if you

42:10

Speaker A

want us to be the ones in charge of your training and nutrition program, you have the link in the description to request an individual audit. There you'll be able to see how we work within the team and if it makes sense

42:20

Speaker A

for us to help you with your entire process. I'll also leave it in the pinned comment. Now, for this variation to really work, it's not enough to just say katana and do it any old way. There are two concepts that greatly change

42:30

Speaker A

the quality of the exercise, one is the support point and the other is the restriction point. The support point is something that you can fixate on and push against to better apply force. For example, supporting your elbow against

42:42

Speaker A

the pulley itself, against a bench, against a bar, or even using a daisy chain to give your arm more control. It doesn’t magically isolate the triceps , but it gives you a physical reference to apply force with more stability. On

42:53

Speaker A

the other hand, a restriction point serves to prevent the joint from going where the resistance wants to take it.

42:59

Speaker A

And this can be even more interesting. For example, if you position yourself sideways to the pulley as in the katana that I suggested, the lateral direction of the cable itself tends to push your arm into a specific position. If you

43:11

Speaker A

position your body correctly, this resistance can act almost like a restriction point, limiting part of the unwanted movement of the shoulder and allowing you to concentrate more on extending your elbow. The difference is simple, the support point helps you

43:23

Speaker A

push better. The restriction point prevents you from moving where you don’t want to. And in analytical exercises, this can greatly change the quality of the stimulus. It won’t make you gain more muscle mass, but it can help you get closer to failure. For

43:34

Speaker A

example, in a French press, within a multipower, the bar can serve as a reference. If you place it in front of the elbows, it can act more as a support point. On the other hand, if you place it behind, it can act more as

43:45

Speaker A

a restriction point because it prevents the elbow from moving forward. I'm not saying that everyone should now do French pref in multipower. The important thing is to understand the principle in general. The more you control the joints that you don't want

43:57

Speaker A

to move, the easier it will be for elbow extension to take center stage. Once we assume that the main movement should be an extension with the shoulder slightly elevated, the ideal would be to combine it with an extension with the shoulder more

44:08

Speaker A

neutral. And this is where pulley push-ups, machine extensions or variations come in where the arm is closer to the body and you can accumulate quality volume. And be careful, because many people get lost with the grip here. Push-downs with a

44:19

Speaker A

straight bar, with a cloud bar, with a rope, with a prone grip, neutral grip, supinated grip. There's a lot of talk about grip, as if it would completely change which head of the triceps is worked, but we've already seen that the

44:29

Speaker A

triceps doesn't work like the biceps. Its three heads terminate in the triceps tendon and insert into the oleander of the ulna. So, as we've already said, rotating the forearm doesn't directly change the length of its heads. That's why, for example, if

44:40

Speaker A

you use a rope and at the end of the movement there's some rotation in the forearm, that's absolutely fine. You're not breaking the exercise, and it's also fine if you use a traditional pronated grip. The important thing isn't to obsess over whether your hand

44:52

Speaker A

rotates a little more or a little less, but rather that you can maintain a comfortable, stable, and progressive trajectory and, above all, that the triceps is the muscle that really limits the set. In fact, in many pulley variations, the direction of the cable

45:04

Speaker A

is more important than the grip. If the cable travels far from the shoulder, in addition to elbow extension, the pulley can start to generate shoulder flexion or stabilization demands that you may not be so interested in. That's why

45:17

Speaker A

variations where the cable passes close to the shoulder or where the direction of resistance follows the natural path of the elbow are often more comfortable . A very practical example is to place yourself with your back to double

45:27

Speaker A

pulleys and cross the cables above. This way, the line of traction can be much more aligned with the direction in which the elbows tend to extend naturally. And on top of that, they travel close to the shoulders, reducing

45:37

Speaker A

certain demands. Once again, this will not magically generate more hypertrophy , but it does provide stability, comfort, and the ability to repeat the movement set after set. And here's another important detail: the path of the cable with respect to the elbow. In

45:51

Speaker A

a good triceps extension, ideally the cable should follow the elbow, drawing a sort of semicircle. At the beginning, when the elbow is very flexed, we know that the triceps are more elongated, especially in variations with the shoulder raised, so we do not need the

46:05

Speaker A

demand for external load to be absolutely maximum. Here we have already seen that there can be a lot of passive tension in that area, but perhaps less capacity to produce active tension. On the other hand, around the middle zone, the range of motion close

46:17

Speaker A

to 90º of elbow flexion, it usually makes a lot of sense for significant demands to appear, because that is usually where you can apply force with greater quality. And the final part, when the elbow is extended, the exercise does not have to become an

46:30

Speaker A

absurd fight against the wrist, the shoulder or stability. And that is why a good pulley variation, that is, where we position ourselves well, can be so useful because it allows you to play with the direction of the cable so that

46:42

Speaker A

the resistance profile makes sense, not because it is the prettiest exercise. So, using a simple strategy, I would build the triceps workout in the following way. First, an extension with the shoulder elevated and stable, a well-placed katana, an overhead on a

46:55

Speaker A

pulley, an overhead machine if it is well designed or a variation as we have seen in the scapular plane or if it fits your structure well, a variation such as a French press. But here I would make an important difference. If

47:06

Speaker A

you are going to do a French press with gravitational resistance, that is, with a barbell or dumbbells, I would not do it as a first option on a completely flat bench. I prefer to do it with a slightly inclined bench, because that

47:17

Speaker A

way you bring the shoulder to a slightly more flexed position and the exercise is more similar to the logic that we have been defending. An elbow extension with the shoulder elevated, not simply a movement with the arm perpendicular to the floor. It is not

47:29

Speaker A

exactly the same as on a pulley, because the resistance still comes from gravity, but it does tend to position the long head better than a traditional flat French press and can be more consistent with what we have seen in

47:39

Speaker A

the previous section. Now, if you do it on a pulley, things change. There you can redirect the resistance. You can do a pre-French extension with a bar or a rope, but adjusting the direction of the cable so that it better follows the

47:51

Speaker A

path of the elbow and does not depend so much on gravity. In that case, the pulley allows you to get much closer to a comfortable and stable path, similar to what we seek with well-planned overhead variations. That is why,

48:01

Speaker A

within this first group, my favorite options would be katana in that scapular plane, a good machine that works overhead, inclined French PR with a bar or dumbbells if it is comfortable or even on a pulley to be able to

48:12

Speaker A

correctly position the direction of the cable. This would be my base if I want to ensure a good stimulus on the long head and the entire triceps. Second, a variation with a more neutral shoulder, push down, extension on a machine or a

48:24

Speaker A

pulley where you can move the load, control the path well and accumulate volume without the shoulder limiting.

48:29

Speaker A

And third, the bench press, military press, dips, close press, JM Press or Cazpress can have a place, but not all of them have to be at the same time. As we saw before, pre-selections should be present in the routine and provide

48:41

Speaker A

indirect work for the triceps, especially for the heads that only cross the elbow. But if the goal is to work the triceps more specifically, I usually prefer to add well-planned elbow extensions before introducing another more tiring and less targeted

48:54

Speaker A

compound variation. That's all that's needed. With triceps, just like with elbow flexors, the goal is not to collect exercises, the goal is to cover functions. And when you understand this , you stop choosing exercises based on trends and start asking yourself what's

49:08

Speaker A

important: what position does the shoulder occupy, what path does the resistance follow, how stable is the exercise, and whether you can really progress close to failure with the triceps as the limiting factor. And if this way of explaining the workout has

49:19

Speaker A

provided you with value so far, I would greatly appreciate it if you left a like and subscribed. And I'm not just saying this, but if we want YouTube to start recommending more fitness content based on science, criteria, and

49:30

Speaker A

real-world applications and fewer videos about "Do this secret exercise to grow" or "I don't know what else," the algorithm needs signals. So if you're also a bit into the scientific side of fitness, give it a like and subscribe, and let's continue because

49:43

Speaker A

now comes the part you like the most, which turns all this into results. You can choose really good exercises and still program them poorly. You can have a perfect katana, a stable push-up, and a perfect preacher machine, but on the

49:55

Speaker A

other hand, your arms still don't make any progress because you do them when you're already exhausted, because you do too much volume, because you repeat redundant stimuli, or because you don't know how to distribute them throughout the week. So far we've answered the

50:08

Speaker A

question of which exercises make sense. Now it's time to answer the question that really turns that selection into progress. How many will you do? When will you do them? With what intensity?

50:17

Speaker A

How often? How to use resources like the partial repetitions that we're going to see without turning them into an excuse to train worse. Let's move on to programming. Programming is the part that changes results the most because many people don't fail because they

50:28

Speaker A

don't know how to exercise, they fail because they don't know how to fit them into a real routine. Many people have good exercises, but they do them badly or do too much volume or always leave them until the end of the session when

50:39

Speaker A

they have no more energy or repeat five exercises that do practically the same thing. Arm programming has to be simple , but not improvised. One of the tricks we use a lot at Heracles Fed is to place biceps on push day and triceps on

50:51

Speaker A

pull day. At first I know it sounds strange, even counterintuitive, because the typical thing is to do chest with triceps and back with biceps, but let's think about what happens there. When you train chest and deltoids, we've already seen that the triceps are

51:02

Speaker A

working in all the presses. If you then do triceps, they're going to arrive with established, accumulated fatigue.

51:08

Speaker A

And when you do back, the elbow flexors have already participated in rows and pulls. If you then add biceps, they will also be damaged. And this does not mean that you cannot make them grow by training them this way. Of course you

51:18

Speaker A

can do it perfectly, but if the goal is to prioritize the arms, which is what this video is about, there is an important difference between doing a direct set with a fresh muscle and doing it when it is already fatigued

51:28

Speaker A

from everything that came before. I need you to understand that a set is not worth it just because it exists in your training sheet, but rather because of the quality with which you execute it. If you reach the cooldown after

51:39

Speaker A

many rows and pulls, you will probably move less weight, do fewer repetitions, control the range of motion or approach failure due to local fatigue that was already established. And with the triceps, of course the same happens after a hard session of presses. The

51:52

Speaker A

set can still be hard, of course, but it will not necessarily be a higher quality set. Sometimes it is said that training with fatigue can be useful because it recruits high-threshold motor units earlier. And this might seem like it makes sense. If the fibers

52:06

Speaker A

that were sustaining the effort become fatigued, the nervous system may need to recruit more motor units to maintain force production. But that doesn't automatically mean it's better for hypertrophy, because it's one thing to recruit motor units in a fatigued

52:20

Speaker A

setting and another to have those fibers produce a lot of quality mechanical tension. Simply put, you don't always need more suffering, you often just need better sets. Prefatigue studies are pretty much along those lines. Prefatigue can modify muscle

52:34

Speaker A

activation or increase metabolic stress , but it doesn't clearly demonstrate that it's a superior strategy for gaining muscle mass by itself. So if you want to prioritize your arms, it makes sense to try to make your direct sets of biceps and triceps not always

52:47

Speaker A

the ones that are the residue of everything you've done before. So that's where strategy comes in. If you do biceps on a push day, your biceps are fresh because they're not fatigued from pulling. And if you do triceps on

52:59

Speaker A

a push-up day, the triceps will also be much fresher to do real elbow extensions, because they won’t be fatigued from pushing. But it also has another practical advantage, which is that you can use these exercises to rest the main muscle group for the

53:11

Speaker A

session. For example, on a push-up day you do a press and accumulate local fatigue in the pectoral and anterior deltoid muscles and triceps. Instead of standing still waiting to recover, you can do a cool set, the biceps barely

53:23

Speaker A

interfere with that press and in the meantime the pectoral and shoulder recover. And this, of course, is very interesting because not only do you train the arm with more quality, but you also make the session more efficient in terms of time. You could

53:35

Speaker A

even try doing it in its own set. You’re not doing arms at the end when you have no more energy, you’re integrating it into the session to make better use of the breaks and accumulate useful volume without lengthening the

53:46

Speaker A

workout. That’s outrageous. And now here a fairly logical question usually arises. Okay, but if the long head of the triceps crosses the shoulder and can also participate in shoulder extension, it's not going to get fatigued when I do backstroke. And the

53:59

Speaker A

short answer is that in practice, this shouldn't normally be a problem. First, because although the long head can participate in shoulder extension, it's not in the same league as the big engines of a pulldown, which are mainly the latissimus dorsi, teres major,

54:13

Speaker A

posterior deltoid, all the muscles that really dominate the gesture. In fact, when the role of the triceps as a shoulder extensor has been studied, it's seen that it can gain extension moment, especially when the shoulder is more elevated, but its active

54:27

Speaker A

contribution does not seem to be a protagonist in the movement. Once again , simply put, yes, the long head of the triceps can help extend the shoulder, but it shouldn't be the muscle that limits a row or a pulldown. And second,

54:39

Speaker A

because in most rows and pulldowns you're not fighting failure in a position where the long head of the triceps has a huge advantage. In a row, you don't usually work with very high degrees of shoulder elevation. In a

54:50

Speaker A

pulldown, even if you start with your arm higher, that upper area is usually more of a starting and transition position than the point where the long head of the triceps will decide whether or not you complete the set.

55:00

Speaker A

Furthermore, from very high elevation ranges, many pulldowns stop being interesting because it is a place where the lat muscle loses its ability to apply force. And third, because the same concept of a biarticular muscle that we saw earlier in the presses

55:14

Speaker A

reappears, but in reverse. In a press, the long head of the triceps, as we said, was in conflict because the elbow was asking for one thing and the shoulder another. In a pulldown, something similar happens, but with the

55:25

Speaker A

actions reversed. Therefore, although anatomically the long head of the triceps is related to the shoulder, including the triceps on a pulldown day usually makes a lot of sense. It allows you to train fresh triceps, with better sets and without dragging all the

55:37

Speaker A

fatigue from the presets. And at the same time it allows you to rest your back between pulling sets. This does not mean that it is mandatory and it also does not mean that there cannot be exceptions. If that day you do a lot of

55:48

Speaker A

pullover work, pulls with very extended arms and specific shoulder extension work or you have discomfort where the long head of the triceps is easily challenged, then yes, you can take it into account. But for most routines based on rowing and normal pulls, the

56:02

Speaker A

triceps are not going to be the limiting factor in the back session. So the practical idea is the following.

56:07

Speaker A

Biceps, on pushing day because they are not fatigued from pulling and it allows you to rest between holds. And triceps, on pulling day because they are not fatigued from pushing and because it allows you to rest between back

56:18

Speaker A

exercises. This allows you to put more volume into the arm with more quality, without lengthening the session excessively and without turning the arm sessions into residual work. When it comes to volume, there are two things to understand at once. The first is

56:30

Speaker A

that you don’t need 40 sets of arms per week to make progress. And the second is that you shouldn’t expect to develop big arms with two sets done at the end of the session while you look at your phone and think about

56:40

Speaker A

going home. We know that there is a dose-response relationship between training volume and muscle hypertrophy.

56:46

Speaker A

In other words, to a certain extent, doing more useful sets can produce more adaptations than doing fewer. If you want to delve deeper into this, I’ll leave you with this video I made about the most effective training routine.

56:58

Speaker A

And this is not something that we should apply to the arms on faith, as if all the studies had only been done on squats or quads. There is plenty of evidence that training volume and arm muscles, especially in the elbow

57:07

Speaker A

flexors and elbow extensors, as we have seen, affect training volume. So yes, we can talk about this with a fair amount of confidence. If your arms are a priority, you shouldn’t be afraid to add volume to them. Now, here’s an

57:18

Speaker A

important nuance. More volume does not mean more junk sets; means more effective sets, well-chosen, well-executed, close to failure, and that you can recover from. Because the relationship between two and response is not infinite: there comes a point where each additional set contributes

57:33

Speaker A

less and less than the last and, beyond a certain volume, it can even start to harm you if your performance decreases, your technique worsens or you accumulate elbow discomfort and do not recover for the next session. And it is

57:43

Speaker A

important for you to know that this point is not the same for everyone. As a practical guide, many people begin to find these diminishing returns when they approach high volumes around 16, 18, 20 weekly sets per muscle group.

57:57

Speaker A

But this is not a magic threshold. It does not mean that 21 sets is automatically bad now, but it does mean that if you are already close to that range, you should have very good reasons to continue increasing sets.

58:08

Speaker A

Now, there is another nuance: not all sets count the same. If you do a lot of presses, of course they get work, as we've seen, just as if you do a lot of rows and pulldowns, the elbow flexors

58:18

Speaker A

also get work. I wouldn't count those sets exactly the same as a straight set of cool or elbow extensions, because the arm muscle isn't always the limiting factor, but I wouldn't pretend they don't exist either. So if your

58:30

Speaker A

arms aren't a priority, six to 10 straight sets of biceps and triceps done well might be enough to maintain them or keep progressing little by little, especially if your routine already includes presses, rows, and pulldowns. But if your arms are a

58:44

Speaker A

priority, then don't be afraid to go higher. You can move up to 10, 12, 14, 16, or even close to 20 sets per week, as long as three conditions are met: you recover well, you maintain or improve your performance, and the sets

58:58

Speaker A

continue to be of quality. So my practical recommendation would be this. Start with a volume that you can perform very well. You measure and progress and only increase if you really need to. If your arms are lucky enough to respond with 10 or 12 direct

59:13

Speaker A

sets, perfect. If they stagnate, you recover well and you want to prioritize them, go up to 14-16. And if you are advanced, tolerate the work well, sleep , eat and organize your week well, you can approach 18 or 20 sets during a

59:26

Speaker A

specific phase. But don't start at the top, start with a volume that you can master and then if your body asks for it, you can increase it. Because with arms it is very easy to confuse more work with better work. That's in terms

59:38

Speaker A

of volume. If we talk about repetitions , for most analytical exercises, the arm should move around 8 to 20 repetitions. Less than eight can work, but often the weight starts to impose itself before the technique. You shorten the range, swing, lose control

59:53

Speaker A

and turn a cool into a kind of full-body pull. And more than 20 repetitions can also work, but in the arms a very typical problem appears, which is the burning sensation, mainly caused by metabolic stress. The series becomes so uncomfortable that many

60:07

Speaker A

people fail sooner due to pain than due to actual muscle fatigue. And we already know that it is one thing to feel burning and another to stimulate the muscle properly. And for hypertrophy, the important thing is to generate enough tension and accumulate

60:18

Speaker A

useful volume and get close to real failure, not to turn each series into a test of tolerance to suffering. Now, here the arms have an interesting practical advantage. Since analytical arm exercises do not usually generate great systemic fatigue, they can be a

60:31

Speaker A

good place to push harder when you are clear that you want to prioritize them.

60:35

Speaker A

A cool butt on a pulley, a preacher on a machine or a push-up, a stable overhead extension, are not going to leave you as affected overall as a heavy squat, a deadlift, a press taken to the limit. Therefore, if you

60:47

Speaker A

tolerate the burning sensation well and have stable exercises, the arms can be a good place to use intensity techniques. For example, doing a set to technical failure, a dropset, a respuse , or even well-planned partials at the end of the set. And here I want to stop

61:02

Speaker A

for a second because partial reps for arms can make more sense than it seems.

61:07

Speaker A

I'm talking about doing your sets with full range as long as you can and when you can no longer complete a good rep, that is, that mechanical failure, add some partial reps, but in the area where you are most interested. In elbow

61:19

Speaker A

flexors, especially in exercises like the preacher cool, this can make sense in the initial range when the elbow is more extended, because that's where it fits in with several things we've already explained during the video.

61:31

Speaker A

Greater demand in an area where the elbow flexors can receive a lot of stimulation, with the brachialis being more prominent and more marked adaptations in the distal areas of the arm being possible. In fact, there are studies on preacher cools where

61:44

Speaker A

training only the initial part of the range produced better adaptations than training it in the final part. Now, this doesn't mean that you have to do all your cools with partial reps. This means that if you've already done your

61:55

Speaker A

full reps and want to add some intensity, partials at the bottom can be a pretty logical option. And with the triceps, it's a similar thing, but with a little more caution. I wouldn't use partials just to lock out at the

62:08

Speaker A

top over and over again, because many times that final part isn't the most interesting and can become more of a fight against the elbow or stability.

62:17

Speaker A

On the other hand, in a well-planned extension, it can make sense to stay in a mid-point of the range of motion, where the elbow is still very flexed, the triceps is working in a more elongated position, or where the

62:28

Speaker A

external demand is still relevant. This fits in quite well with what we've seen before. In many triceps variations, especially on the pulley, I don't want the entire exercise to be difficult at the end. I want the resistance profile

62:40

Speaker A

to make sense and to be able to accumulate quality tension. So partials can be an interesting tool for two things: to accumulate a little more stimulus in less time and to focus a little more on the area of the range of

62:51

Speaker A

motion that may interest us. But for more unstable exercises, with less control or that bother your elbow, there’s no need to play the hero, because it’s one thing to train hard and quite another to turn each arm set

63:02

Speaker A

into a war against the joint. And finally, we should talk about frequency . Frequency two usually works very well for arms and if arms are a real priority, frequency three can also make a lot of sense. But here I want you to

63:15

Speaker A

understand something important. Frequency is not magic. Frequency is logistics. It’s a tool to be able to distribute the volume you have planned without putting too many sets in the same session. Because weekly volume is one thing and how much volume you put

63:30

Speaker A

in within a single session is quite another. And here we have a very interesting piece of information. In a recent meta-regression on volume per session, the authors analyzed the relationship between the number of sets you do for a muscle group within the

63:43

Speaker A

same session and hypertrophy adaptations. But what’s interesting is not just the result, but how they quantified volume. They didn’t count all sets the same, they differentiated between direct sets, total sets and fractional sets. A direct set would be

63:57

Speaker A

a set where the muscle being measured is likely the primary force generator. For example, if we're talking about biceps, a cool set would be a direct set. And if we're talking about triceps , an elbow extension would be a direct

64:09

Speaker A

set. Then there would be indirect sets. For example, if we're talking about biceps, a pulldown or a row would also involve elbow flexion and the biceps will be involved, but it's not necessarily the primary limiting muscle in the exercise. And if we're talking

64:24

Speaker A

about triceps, a bench press, military press, or dip would also involve elbow extension, but the triceps shares the spotlight with the pectoralis for anterior OT, stability, technique, and other factors. So what did the authors do? In the fractional model, direct

64:38

Speaker A

sets counted as a full set and indirect sets as a half set. And this is very useful for arm programming because it pretty much represents what happens in practice. It wouldn't make sense to say that a row counts exactly the same as a

64:50

Speaker A

curl for biceps, but it also wouldn't make sense to say that it doesn't count at all. And the same goes for triceps presses. A triceps extension is not the same as a bench press when it comes to stimulating the triceps, but the prec

65:00

Speaker A

is part of the equation. Well, in this study, the model that best explained hypertrophy was precisely the fractional model. That is, when talking about hypertrophy, it seems to make more sense to count direct sets as one set and indirect sets as a fraction of

65:15

Speaker A

the stimulus, not as zero or as a full set. And with this way of controlling volume, the authors found a positive dose-response relationship: more volume per session, per muscle group, means more hypertrophy, but once again with these diminishing returns. That means

65:31

Speaker A

that the first sets tend to contribute more and as you accumulate more work within the same session, each additional set probably contributes less and less than the last. The point where that clear superiority was no longer detected when continuing to add

65:45

Speaker A

sets was around 11 fractional sets per session for hypertrophy. And be careful , because once again this does not mean that the 12-set series is useless. Nor is it a magic limit and it does not mean that above 11 you can no longer

65:57

Speaker A

gain muscle. What it does mean is that from that point on, the probability that adding even more volume within that same session will produce a clearly greater improvement starts to be much less evident. And this applied to arms changes quite a bit how we

66:11

Speaker A

should think about frequency. Imagine that you do a strong back session with lots of rows and pulls and then you do a lot of direct biceps. On paper you might say, "I've only done eight sets of biceps," but if you've done 10 or 12

66:23

Speaker A

sets of pulls before, your elbow flexors are already accumulating indirect work. I wouldn't count those sets as cool, but they would count as part of the stimulus. So if you put back and biceps together, you can get pretty close to that point of

66:35

Speaker A

diminishing returns per session pretty quickly, even if you haven't done that many direct sets of curls. And the same goes for triceps. If you do a lot of presses, a lot of direct triceps, the triceps isn't starting from zero. It's

66:47

Speaker A

already been participating in those presses. So if you decide to pair biceps with pulls or triceps with pushes, it usually makes sense to be more conservative with the direct volume that you put in afterwards. On the other hand, if you separate elbow

67:00

Speaker A

flexors from pull days and triceps from push days, you have more leeway to put in that quality direct arm work. For example, biceps, Push day, and triceps, pull day. That's when your arms are fresher, there's less indirect work

67:15

Speaker A

beforehand, and you can tolerate a few direct sets better without everything becoming the residue of the session.

67:22

Speaker A

That's why when we look at the entire program, it almost always makes more sense to use a frequency of two or three for arms if you want to prioritize them, that is, depending on the weekly volume you want to do. And

67:33

Speaker A

now, let's summarize it all in a very simple idea. After all this video, I don't want you to leave with a set routine that you copy without thinking, I want you to leave with a criterion.

67:43

Speaker A

If arms are not an absolute priority, you can keep it very simple. For elbow flexors, do preacher curls and hammer curls. For triceps, do an extension with the shoulder elevated and a push-up or more stable extension with the shoulder neutral. And with that,

67:56

Speaker A

you've already covered a lot. You have a stable base for the elbow flexors, you better cover the brachei radialis, you give a specific stimulus to the triceps with the shoulder elevated, and you maintain a more stable variation in

68:06

Speaker A

the that you can accumulate volume. But if the arms are a priority, then I would add a third piece for the elbow flexors, preacher, ballesian or incline and hammer. And for triceps, katana or overhead, pushd or on the machine and

68:20

Speaker A

the presses as compound work that already appears within your push days. Then I would organize everything with the logic that we have already explained, I would not put everything in one eternal arm day, do not always leave it for the end when you have no

68:32

Speaker A

more energy and do not always combine biceps with pulls or triceps with push if your goal is to prioritize them. A very efficient way would be this, on push day, include elbow flexions between presses and on pull day,

68:43

Speaker A

include triceps extensions between back exercises. This way you train fresher arms, take better advantage of the breaks and accumulate quality volume without lengthening the session excessively. All this always taking into account that the volume, intensity and frequency are in line with what we

68:56

Speaker A

have discussed. So to summarize everything, The video to build big arms , stop thinking about individual exercises and start thinking about functions. And if you want us to be the ones who take care of all this for you,

69:07

Speaker A

programming, nutrition, adjustments, technique review and follow-up, you have the link below in the description and in the pinned comment to request a free video consultation with the team.

69:16

Speaker A

There we will see your case, your starting point and if it makes sense for us to work together. And if you have questions, here are some images of people who came to us with the goal of increasing muscle mass in their arms

69:27

Speaker A

and achieved these amazing physiques. And while we have the next video on forearms ready, I leave you another video here so that your arms finish looking like monsters. See you in the next one.

Topics: arm training biceps exercises triceps workout elbow flexors muscle hypertrophy arm anatomy hammer curls exercise programming strength training fitness science

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