I Copied Phil Heath’s Pre-Contest Arm Workout for 14 Days — You Won’t Believe What Happened

As someone who has been writing about professional bodybuilding for almost eight years, I can confidently say that the seven-time Mr. Olympia champ Phil Heath has the best arms of all time.

I decided to replicate Heath’s arm workouts for 14 days to determine if they could help me build championship-winning pythons. In this article, I take you over my experience completing Heath’s twice-a-week arm workouts and share my results, including the improvements in my bicep and tricep definition and training technique.

I’ll also peel back the curtain on how you can adopt this challenge in your own routine. We have a lot to unpack, so sit tight and read on.

Understanding Phil Heath’s Pre-Contest Arm Workout

Heath’s bicep and tricep size and forearm thickness and symmetry made him stand out on stage. His arm definition was unparalleled and you could see every muscle fiber under his paper-thin skin.

The champ’s arms were a result of his superior genetics and unique training routine.

Heath was coached by 25-time Olympia-winning trainer Hany Rambod who had him follow his renowned FST-7 routine to sharpen every line and peak of his physique.

FST stands for fascia stretching training and involves pushing as much blood into the muscle fibers as possible to expand the thin casing of connective tissues surrounding the muscles, giving them more room to grow.

The FST-7 technique involves performing seven sets of 10 to 12 reps with minimal rest on the final exercise.

Heath’s Pre-Contest Arm Training Routine

I did the first workout on a Monday and the second on a Thursday to give my muscles enough time to recover between the sessions.

Without further ado, here are the training workouts:

Workout 1: Focus on the Biceps Peak & Triceps Outer Head

The first workout was designed to focus on carving a better bicep peak and lateral tricep head.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
EZ Bar Curls	3	10-12	60
Hammer Curls	3	10-12	60
Rope Pushdowns	3	12-15	45
Concentration Curls	3	10-12	45
Cable Overhead Triceps Extension	3	12-15	45
EZ Bar Curls (FST-7)	7	10-12	40

Workout 2: Focus on Overall Arm Definition

Like Heath, I prioritized following a full range of motion, fully extending my elbows at the bottom of the range of motion. I held the contraction for a second to maximize muscle pumps and fill the muscle bellies with as much blood, oxygen, lactic acid, and nutrients to promote growth.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest (seconds)
Incline Dumbbell Curls	3	10-12	60
Reverse Grip Pushdowns	3	12-15	45
Single Arm Cable Curls	3	10-12	45
Close Grip Bench Press	3	10-12	60
Overhead Rope Extensions	3	12-15	45
Rope Pushdowns (FST-7)	7	10-12	40

I did the FST-7 set in the first workout for the biceps and switched to the triceps in the second workout to ensure balanced development.

Furthermore, I recommend starting with the lagging muscle group so you can train them with the maximum intensity. People with weaker triceps should start their workouts training them while they are still fresh.

Slowing down the rep tempo and increasing the time under tension (TuT) enhanced my mind-muscle connection, helping me get the best bang for my training buck by promoting muscle-protein synthesis. (1)

Research shows that increasing training frequency can help improve muscle size, definition, and strength (2). I combined this high-frequency approach with a calorie deficit to improve my muscle definition and separation.

Day-by-Day Breakdown: The 14-Day Experience

Now that you know all the details of my arm training plan, it is time to get into the specifics:

Week 1: The Initial Shock

As a personal trainer with almost two decades of hands-on experience, I knew my limitations. Just because I was following Heath’s training routine didn’t mean I could match his training intensity or volume.

I was pretty happy with my arm size and my focus for the next 14 days was to improve the definition and separation and I scaled my workouts accordingly. Remember, these workouts are about definition, not size. The days before a contest are about sculpting the physique and bringing out every detail, line, and separation.

Since I only had 14 days and four workouts to make it count, I pushed myself to the limit in each session. Saying that the first workout hit like a freight train would be an understatement.

I performed each movement with a picture-perfect form to maximize target muscle stimulation and subsequent adaptations and adjusted the weight or reps as needed based on my fatigue levels.

On Day Two, I woke up with significant delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). I increased my protein intake and did light stretching to boost my recovery.

Just when the soreness was going down, it was time for the second weekly workout. The exercises in this session targeted my muscles from different angles, resulting in a significant bicep and tricep pump.

The soreness on the next day was even higher than what I experienced after the first session.

However, this was a sign that I was moving in the right direction. On the rest day, I went out for a 20-minute walk to promote blood flow throughout the body and speed up my recovery so that I was in top shape for workout number three of this short program.

Week 2: Final Push

After the initial shock faded, I felt more prepared for this arm workout. Since I was now more comfortable with the movement mechanics of each exercise, I increased the weight slightly to challenge my muscles further.

I incorporated a one-second hold in the fully extended position for an optimal muscle pump.

These high-intensity workouts combined with a calorie deficit diet had already started to work their wonders, as I noticed the veins in my forearms popping more than usual.

I took things to the next level by dedicating half an hour to posing after each workout during this week. This significantly improved my mind-muscle connection and I could now feel each muscle fiber moving with each rep.

The Final Workout

The final workout of a program brings the best out of me, and it was no different this time around.

Since my body had adapted to this high-volume training approach, I was now ready to push myself out of my comfort zone. While sticking to the same set and rep range, I focused on squeezing my muscles with each reputation and increased the weights gradually to ensure mechanical failure by the final rep.

I must add that the calorie deficit combined with this FST-7 program resulted in significant fatigue, especially in the second week. I sipped on EAAs throughout the workout to ensure I had enough gas in the tank to make it through the workouts while maintaining a high training intensity.

After the final workout, my arms felt harder and more defined with veins that I had never seen before. Honestly, I felt immensely happy and satisfied after completing this 14-day challenge.

You must learn to listen to your body. Stop and exercise immediately if something feels unnatural or weird. Consult your doctor if you are experiencing pain and it does not go away within a couple of days.

Results of This 14-Day Phil Heath Arm Training Challenge

It’s time to dive into the results and figure out if this two-week challenge is worth your time and effort. Here are the numbers:

Metric	Baseline Measurement	After 14 Days	Change
Right Arm Circumference	18.2 inches	18.7 inches	0.5-inch increase
Left Arm Circumference	18.1 inches	18.7 inches	0.6-inch increase

I had a muscle imbalance before I started this training routine —  my left arm was slightly smaller than the right. I did a few extra reps on the left side in every unilateral movement to fix this.

Overall, I noticed an improvement in my bicep peak definition, especially under direct lighting. My horseshoe tricep aesthetic also improved as my long tricep head became more prominent. The improved vascularity in the forearms and biceps also contributed to a more chiseled appearance and better separation.

I encountered severe DOMS after the first workout. However, it reduced gradually towards the end of this challenge. Warming up properly before each session improved the blood flow to the target muscles, ensuring the soreness did not hinder my performance.

Finally, this short but intense training challenge led to a slight increase in strength in key exercises like EZ bar curls and rope pushdowns.

Could a Natural Lifter Keep Up? Analyzing the Pro Gap

Before I conclude this piece, I must address the elephant in the room — can a natural athlete keep up with the demands of an enhanced athlete’s routine?

Let’s start with genetics. Pros like Heath have exceptional genetics that allow them to handle higher volume workouts, and recover faster. Natural lifters like me do not generally have the same genetic advantage and can take longer to recover between sessions, impacting our performance. (3)

Plus, Heath has decades of high-level training experience and his body is conditioned to extreme work workloads like these.

In training regimes like these, athletes like Heath can focus on pushing themselves to the limit while their muscle memory takes over. On the other hand, I had to consciously monitor my training form to maximize muscle stimulation and limit injury risk.

While I saw gains, Heath’s pre-contest results would far exceed mine.

I would recommend natural athletes reduce the number of sets and reps and increase the rest periods between exercises to ensure adequate recovery. Focus on progressive overload, which involves gradually increasing the load on the muscles for consistent gains.

I prioritized adapting Heath’s training principles instead of trying to replicate his results.

Conclusion

Heath’s high-intensity 14-day arm workout helped me gain 0.5 inches in arm circumference while significantly improving muscle definition and vascularity.

Like any other training program, you must stay consistent and disciplined to make the most out of this two-week Heath-inspired training routine. If you are not on a deadline, I encourage you to try this program for eight to 12 weeks to get the most out of it.

If you have any questions about Phil Heath’s arm training routine or need help implementing it into your own routine, post them in the comments below, and I’ll be happy to help!

References:

1. Burd NA, Andrews RJ, West DW, Little JP, Cochran AJ, Hector AJ, Cashaback JG, Gibala MJ, Potvin JR, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. J Physiol. 2012 Jan 15;590(2):351-62. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200. Epub 2011 Nov 21. PMID: 22106173; PMCID: PMC3285070.
2. Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Med. 2016 Nov;46(11):1689-1697. doi: 10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8. PMID: 27102172.
3. Mantri S, Agarwal S, Jaiswal A, Yelne S, Prasad R, Wanjari MB. Bodybuilding: A Comprehensive Review of Performance-Enhancing Substance Use and Public Health Implications. Cureus. 2023 Jul 9;15(7):e41600. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41600. PMID: 37559855; PMCID: PMC10409494.

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