posted
04/26/12
Over the past three weeks, we’ve talked about how to get ripped abs, powerful legs and a barrel chest for your beach debut later this year. Now, it’s time to add the final piece of the hard-body puzzle: awesome arms. (You know, like Arnold had 30 years ago.) We’ll do it with a workout that I like to call “Sleeveless.” That’s because after you complete it a few times—combined with a low-calorie, high-protein diet—you’ll never want to wear sleeves again. OK, let’s get after it.
Beach Season Workout, Week 4
Just like the first three workouts, this one consists of 10 exercises. You’ll do each for 30 seconds, with no rest between each. That’s the basis for Rapid Muscle Response, a technique that leads to massive muscle recruitment—and massive results. So go hard and don’t take breaks.
Exercise 1: Hulk Outs
To get started, stand in a semi-squat position and extend your arms out to your sides, palms facing the sky. Clench your fists and perform arm curls, squeezing your biceps as hard as you can. (Imagine you’re holding a pair of 50-pound dumbbells.) Keep your upper arms parallel to the ground and crank out as many curls as you can in 30 seconds. (Remember: squeeze hard!) This really primes your muscles for the rest of the workout.
Exercise 2: Rip Cords
Drop into a full-squat position. Extend your arms out to your sides, palms facing down. Flap your arms up and down like an eagle as fast as you can. Be sure to squeeze the muscles in your arms as you flap. Also, don’t bend your arms at all. This is going to destroy your rear delts and frontal delts. (In a good way.)
Exercises 3 and 4: Straight Punches
Get in a fighting stance with your left foot forward and both fists underneath your chin (like a boxer). Throw a straight punch with your right hand. Repeat as many times as you can in 30 seconds. (Be sure to bend your knees and rotate your hips when you punch.) Then, switch your feet and throw as many straight punches with your left hand as you can in 30 seconds. Throughout, squeeze your fists as tight as you can to work your forearms as well.
