There’s nothing better than leaving the gym with a good “pump”—the swollen sensation in your muscles that makes them feel and look bigger.
In the video above, Men’s Health Fitness Director B.J. Gaddour shows you how to get the best arm pump of your life. It involves a pre-exhaustion technique using a competitive superset.
You’ll start with a single-joint isolation movement for your biceps or triceps with a weight that’s challenging for 8 to 15 reps. Once you can’t do any more reps, you’ll immediately perform a multi-joint compound movement that also works your bis or tris for the same number of reps.
Here’s how it works: Your biceps or triceps will be exhausted after the first exercise, says Gaddour. That’s why more muscle groups are introduced into the equation during the second exercise. You’re still working your bis or tris, but you have other muscles to help out with the load.
This technique increases the time your arms are under tension and improves your mind-muscle connection, both of which spur new muscle growth, Gaddour explains.
Directions: Do 8 to 15 reps of the first movement, and then try to do the same number of reps for the second movement. That’s 1 set. Do 3 to 5.
You can do just the biceps or triceps supersets alone, or you can do them back-to-back for a full upper-body workout.
Biceps Dumbbell Superset
1. Biceps curl
2. Bent-over row
Triceps Dumbbell Superset
1. Skull crusher (or lying triceps extension)
2. Close-grip bench press
