Cable-ready arms: fine-tune your arm workout with our all-cable programming

Men's Fitness, Feb, 1999 by Bobby Lee

Cable-ready arms Fine-tune your arm workout with our all-cable programming Cable movements for arms have long been the Rodney Dangerfield of the exercise world: They're sometimes funny to look at, and they often get no respect.

Maybe it's the case with which you can load on the weight that makes guys wary - after all, part of the appeal of being able to curl 60-pound dumbbells is the visceral sensation of wrapping your hands around them and hoisting them off the rack. Moving the pin four notches down the weight stack just doesn't have the same panache.

Get past this first impression, though, and you'll realize that cables are a viable alternative to free weights - one that even offers benefits that can't be matched by more traditional iron work.

"The disadvantage with using free weights is that throughout your range of motion, as the angle at your active joint changes position, so does the resistive force," says Christopher Lockwood, a certified strength-and-conditioning specialist. "This doesn't occur to as great an extent with cables because the weight is moving in a fixed linear motion, guided by the weight-stack rods." In other words, cables allow you to maintain continuous tension throughout the range of motion, a good thing for nailing muscles with intensity.

Of course, as is often true in life, that which is a blessing can also be a curse. According to Lockwood, the advantage of using cables is also its greatest disadvantage. "There is a certain control factor using free weights as opposed to using cables. Smaller muscles must assist the more actively involved muscles to stabilize and lift the weights during a free-weight exercise."

The key to growth in weight training is variety. If you primarily use free weights to build your arms, it may be time to incorporate cables into your arm regime. Cables offer a degree of variety, as well as safety, that free weights can't match. In addition to continuous tension benefits, cables also give you a better opportunity to generate peak contraction forces at the top of every rep.

With that in mind, we asked Lockwood to devise a biceps and triceps workout consisting of cable movements for beginning, intermediate and advanced lifters. Choose one based on how long you've been training, and you'll soon be a big player in your gym's arms race.

Beginner: 1-3 months

Exercise                   Sets         Reps

Rope curl                   1-2        10-12
High straight-              1-2        10-12
bar curl
Rope pressdown              1-2        10-12
Seated overhead             1-2        10-12
extension

Perform this workout for your arms three times a week as part of an
overall training routine. Do just one set of each exercise the first
week, completing an additional set during your second week of
training. Choose a weight that allows you to comfortably complete
the appropriate number of reps, stopping about two shy of muscle
failure. Take as much rest between sets as necessary. Once you can
successfully complete two sets of 12 reps, progressively increase
the weight.

Biceps

High straight-bar curl

Attach a straight bar to a high pulley. Position an incline bench (set at 35 to 45 degrees) at arm's length facing the high pulley. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip and sit back on the bench, arms extended in front of you. Keeping your elbows stationary, curl the bar toward you, pause and return to the starting position.

Rope curl

Attach a rope to a low pulley. Stand facing the pulley and grasp the rope with a palms-in, knuckles-touching grip. Keeping your elbows at your sides, curl the rope upward toward your chest, flaring your hands outward to a palms-up position as you reach the top. Pause, return to the starting position and repeat.

Triceps

Cambered-bar French press

Attach a cambered bar to a low pulley. Position a flat bench with one end facing the pulley. Lying fiat on the bench, head toward the pulley, grasp the bar with a thumbs-in grip and straighten your arms over your chest. Without moving your upper arms, lower the bar slowly until it almost touches your forehead. Pause and return the bar to the starting position following the same arc. Repeat.

Triceps

Unilateral kickback

Attach a U-handle to a low pulley. Position yourself facing the pulley and grasp the handle with a palm-in, thumb-up grip. Bend at the waist and bring your elbow up until it's bent 90 degrees and your upper arm is parallel to the floor. Straighten your arm out behind you, pause and return to the starting position.

Triceps

Rope pressdown

Attach a rope to a high pulley. Stand facing the pulley and grasp the rope with a palmsin, knuckles-touching grip. With your elbows bent 90 degrees and your arms stationary at your sides, press down and flare your hands outward as your arms straighten. Pause, return to the starting position and repeat.

Seated overhead extension

Attach a rope to a low pulley and position a high-backed seat facing away from the pulley. Sit down and grasp the rope with a thumbs-down grip, elbows pointing directly upward. Keeping your elbows stationary, straighten your arms, pause and return to the starting position.