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This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in August of 2022. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkVQva46OCk&t=94s
Brad: Bob and I are going to show you five options that are perfect for beginners to work the biceps and triceps and it's going to be very entertaining and motivational.
Bob: I’ve got my “strong like bull” shirt on.
Brad: Yes, strong like bull, you're going to grow some muscles. All right there are three keys to success with this. Number one, make sure you do your mechanics properly. And we're going to show you options.
Bob: Good posture.
Brad: Yep. And you get good range of motion. All that will be shown here. Number two, you need to fatigue the muscle properly. We're going to talk about the reps. We're going to do 10 repetitions. By the time you get to nine and 10, you should feel a little burn in the muscle. And the goal is going to be, two or three sets of 10. We're going to talk about how you do this with supersets. Don't get worried about that term. It's just how you work the biceps and the triceps. So, you have the protagonist and the antagonist working together. It makes the whole exercise more time efficient, and actually more efficient in regards to the workout itself.
Bob: Number three.
Brad: Consistency. Stick to it. You need to set up a program that is good for your schedule and is going to go at least three workouts per week, probably four. You might do five, depends how aggressive you are, but not every day for sure, okay? The muscles must rebuild.
Bob: You need to rest.
Brad: Okay, so with bands like we have here, you'll get handles. You'll get usually four or five bands. They're different colors and different resistances. They will give you a door anchor or at least make sure you get one when you order your set, but I think they all do. With the door to demonstrate it, you put it in there and you simply close the door, and, make sure the door is locked, and then you can pull on it. As long as no one walks through the door, you're safe. It's going to work out well. Now you can do it at this level, you can do it over the top of the door, and you can slide it all the way down and do the same thing at the bottom of the door. You're going to find out why that's important in just a little bit.
Brad: So let me just show you what it looks like once we got it all connected.
Brad: Okay, so this is what it's going to look like. You have your bands, you put them through the loop, closing the door. Obviously, I have it at a high level. There will be some exercises from this level that you can do. We’re going to go through and show you how this works at three different levels. Now, one point we want to get out of the way is with resistance bands, a big benefit is you can vary the resistance, unlike with dumbbells. With dumbbells, you must do five pounds or 10 pounds. But with resistance bands, I'll show you. Now we're using wall anchors here, but you can use the door. We're just using these because they work a lot more efficiently and they're just much easier and fun to work with. Now, if I'm doing some bicep curls like this and I want to increase the resistance, I can simply step away and it's much stronger, or get closer, or just grab one, and it's half the resistance. Now, if I want to increase the resistance more, you can simply grab a different color band. The darker the band, typically the more resistance.
Bob: Or the thicker.
Brad: Yeah, or the thicker. Exactly. Now, I oftentimes have two bands.
Bob: I do, too.
Brad: You can put up to three in the wall anchor. I've had as many as four, but that's pushing it. You can usually do three and lock them up in there and that's obviously going to change the resistance and make it more. So resistance changing, it's one of those things I'm so used to using these, I didn't think about it until people commented, "How do you change the resistance?" I thought this is for beginners, we need to cover this.
Bob: Yep, good point.
Brad: Okay, I'm showing you five options, five different ways to do biceps and triceps supersets. And that means first we're going to do biceps, 10 of those, and then we're going to do triceps. So you work the muscle that flexes the elbow and then the opposite muscle that extends the elbow. It's a really efficient way to do the workout, as I mentioned before. We're going to do one that, you can just stand on the bands. You don't need the wall anchor or the door anchor. Very simple, you can do it anywhere. Step on the band and then simply, arms down by your side, and pull up, and all the way down. We're not going to whip through these fast.
Bob: Keep good posture.
Brad: Yep, there we go. Thanks, Bob. I was a little slouchy right there, myself. That posture's critical. Up and down. And you can see we're going at a moderate pace.
Bob: The full range.
Brad: Yep, full range up and down, going down slowly is probably more important than going up slowly.
Bob: Eccentric.
Brad: Yes, exactly. And that's the beauty of the bands. There are so many advantages of the bands actually, that you do not get with those dumbbells.
Bob: It’s easier on the joints.
Brad: Yep. Now, we did 10 of those. For the next one, I've got two bands and I need less resistance for the overhead, so I’ll just use one. Now, this is how you can do the triceps, overhead.
Bob: And when you're tall like me, you can sit down.
Brad: Yeah. This is not my favorite triceps option. But you can do it. If you have shoulder problems and you have any pain doing this, you should not do it. So this is only if you have healthy shoulders, but it does work the triceps nicely and you can do 10 like that. You can see, I only have one band. I just let the other one loose. And that's all legal and good in the band world.
Brad: Okay, the next option is simply to take your bands and put them at your anchor, whatever it is, at chest or shoulder level, and stand back like this. I'm going to do my palms up and simply do my curls here. Again, you can make it more difficult by stepping back. I know Bob likes to double them up to get the real power set in there. Really builds those muscles.
Bob: Right.
Brad: The nice thing about this is you can simply just turn around and you're all ready to go. The setup is very efficient. Now when you do your triceps, make sure the elbows stay stationary and we're not bringing your whole arm down. The bands hit you, for one thing, and you're working your shoulders instead of your triceps. So, this is the form part that's really critical. Same with the curls. Elbows are up and the elbows do not move. They stay stationary to isolate those biceps. Okay, good.
Brad: We're going to go to the third one. Now we're going to use a higher level. This really works well for the triceps and you can do the bicep with this. A lot of times I'll do my bicep on the middle one, and do the triceps on the top, but you can still get a good bicep curl.
Bob: Especially the short head of the bicep.
Brad: We have the short head and the long head. That's two different muscles that make up the biceps. Now, this is what I really like for the triceps, you can go back against the wall. So you have good posture and your elbows are stationed against the walls. This one assures perfect form because we're not moving the arms. Now if you want to increase resistance, you put on another band or a thicker band, darker color, or you can simply go down and then you get a little leg work done, at the same time, or you simply sit on a stool
Bob: What a bargain.
Brad: Yeah, I've done it either way. This is not one I do a lot at home. My favorite one's coming up, but this is still a really nice way to work the muscle. See how my elbows are right up against the wall? Okay. Number four option, we're going to start with the bands down on the lower level. So, we're going to do biceps on the bottom, triceps up on the higher level, so it changes that up a little bit.
This is a nice exercise; I like this one.
Bob: That's the way I do it.
Brad: Okay, this is the way Bob does his. The posture is so critical. Don't lean forward.
Bob: And it gets the long head of the biceps that way. Because the arm is back a bit.
Brad: Yep, you bet. When you get back like this, that shoulder extension with full elbow extension. Step farther away to do this again. This is Bob's notorious single, double it up on there.
Bob: That's right, get tough. Strong like bull.
Brad: Make it burn. All right. Then again, just like the one we just showed. Do the triceps here however you'd like to do it. That way you get that superset.
Brad: We've got one more to do with this. The next one is my favorite. It isolates the biceps and triceps the best, in my opinion. I honestly think this isolates the muscles the best and it forces you to have good posture and I'll show you why. You're going to need a lower-level anchor.
Bob: And a floor.
Brad: And it's nice because if you're a little tired or you do this first in the morning, you just lay down and relax. Now my shoulders are flat on the floor. My elbows are glued to the floor. Get your feet bent up and crossed so they're out of the way, and I'm going to simply do my curls here. Now we're not lifting your arms off the floor. This is not what you want to do. The elbows are glued or nailed to the floor, whatever makes you think it so that you keep them there. And again, just slide out for more resistance. Very easy and get your 10 done this way.
Brad: Two sets or three sets, but you want to break it up, and then do one set that way, turn yourself around, and then do the other exercise, so we make the superset. I'm going to go back this way, shoulders flat to the floor, head on the floor, elbows on the floor. Same thing, you must keep your elbows glued to the floor. Hands touch the floor, then they come back up to here. Touch. So, we're not lifting the whole arm up. That is not a good, true biceps-triceps exercise. Get your 10 there. You know, if you wanted to do double up. Get one set with a little more resistance, and get the burn going.
Bob: You can finish off that way.
Brad: Yep. So that's it. You have five options for doing triceps-biceps super sets. Try them all. You're going to find out, you'll probably find two or three different ways that you like to do it. It breaks up the boredom. It's going to keep you working at these longer and it's just more fun.
Bob: There we go.
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