Godfather of bodybuilding Charles Glass recently shared some important arm workout tips to get maximum benefits. Known for his cerebral and cognitive approach to bodybuilding and fitness, Charles Glass recently collaborated with fitness YouTuber Hocine Belaid for an arm workout session and shared the video on his YouTube channel.
Charles Glass guided Belaid through the arms workout and highlighted some important aspects of training and nutrition as they went. Awareness of body mechanics, nutritional requirements, and a wholesome approach to fitness form the core of the tips shared by Glass, and here is the summary of the video.
Add slight wrist extension
Charles Glass advises keeping the wrists slightly extended to get a maximum contraction in the biceps. Glass experienced that keeping the wrists stiff or slightly curled tends to work the forearm muscles more and the biceps do not get the most out of a workout.
“People always forget that you want to put maximum pressure on your biceps and not the forearms. Main thing people do is they put pressure (on the forearms) first and then they try to transfer it (on the biceps).
But once they get in the forearms, it’s going to get fatigued and now you can’t do anything. So the biggest thing is try to keep it out by dropping this slightly back, put more pressure on just the biceps.” Charles Glass said.
Charles Glass attributes this discovery of this technique to his tendency to pay attention to the muscles while working out rather than keeping the focus solely on the number of reps.
Related: Charles Glass Shares A Push-Up Hack to Build Chest Muscles
Train arms with intensity
Increasing the intensity is another one of Charles Glass’s ways to train arms effectively. Depending upon the time availability, the godfather of bodybuilding advises incorporating supersets, drop sets, giant sets, and all sorts of methods to get the most out of arms workout.
Charles Glass states that minor tweaks in the range of motion can greatly improve intensity. E.g. Glass advises that keeping the shoulders pulled back, elbows down, and curling the wrists slightly outwards while performing curls is a great way to increase intensity.
Identify nutrition for your body type and incorporate digestive enzymes into your meal
Everyone is aware that proper nutrition is equally important to make proper gains. However, a lot of people follow diet trends rather than paying attention to how their body responds to the types of foods. Charles Glass stated that his body absorbs nutrients from meat really well and helps him stay lean. Understanding what works best for your body when it comes to food is an important thing according to Charles Glass. In addition to that, the 70-year-old advises incorporating digestive enzymes in the meal to make sure that food does not just ‘sit there in the stomach.
Add size with intensity and progressive overload
Next one of Charles Glass’s tips applies to the entire fitness routine and not merely arms workout. Proper form, training plan, and nutrition can only yield benefits if a person is willing to push his body’s limits. Working with progressive overload and having a training partner for the healthy competition is another one of Charles Glass’s tips to make gains.
“I want (to train with) somebody better than me. That gives me something to shoot for. If I’m shooting for him, he goes, “oh sh*t. let me stay ahead of him”. He’s gonna go even harder. So it keeps pushing everybody.” Charles Glass said.
As for the amount of work, Charles Glass prefers to do sets of 10 to 12 reps for arms and perform three to four different exercises to get the best results.
Related: Coach Charles Glass Shares His 4 Favorite Muscle Building Techniques
Purposely train your brachialis – use drag curls, hammer curls, and preacher curls
Our focus mainly lies on more prominent muscles when it comes to training. However, a lot of gym-goers never pay attention to muscles like the brachialis. This upper arm muscle flexes the arm at the elbow joint. Charles Glass advises to purposely train the brachialis the way we train biceps and other muscles in the arms.
According to Glass, drag curls, preacher curls, and hammer curls are the best exercises to train the brachialis muscle. He advises wisting the wrists while performing curls to work the brachialis. The EZ bar can also train the muscle. However, Charles Glass does not prefer it as the shape of the EZ bar does not allow twisting motion.
About Charles Glass
Charles Glass is a retired bodybuilder and one of the most respected trainer in the bodybuilding industry. He retired from professional bodybuilding in 1983 after winning the middleweight championship with the International Federation of Bodybuilding.
Glass is the coach behind fitness and bodybuilding icons like Flex Wheeler and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Even today, Charles Glass continues to train people and has a massive presence on the internet on social media.
Courtesy of Charles Glass’s YouTube channel, you can watch the full video of arm workout tips here:
