When I came to my trainer, Ken Turchek, and complained that my arms just were not responding to the body part split he had me on, he got creative as usual. He started to ask questions about the current workout plan. At first he changed it alone. He had me train once time a week but switched me to heavy training instead of medium weight training. It just didn't work. My arms were not responding. This finally lead us to the Pump and Blast Arm Training Method.
Introducing the New Method for Bigger Arms
The arms are one thing people notice. My back responds, my chest responds, my legs respond, but my arms just don't respond. In order to be competitive on the bodybuilding stage my arms must respond! In order to get them to respond, drastic changes to my training was required. this is where the Pump and Blast Arm Training Method was born. It was created to force my arms to grow. It has worked so far.
What Is Pump and Blast Arm Training?
Most people train their arms one or two times a week and they work in the 8 to 15 repetition range. This seems to work well for most people. They combine their arm training with other body parts (commonly biceps with back and triceps with chest). This process did not work for me so we changed it up a bit.
Pump and Blast Arm Training involves 3 arm sessions a week–2 pump sessions and 1 blast session. I break it out like this:
| Session | Sets | Repetitions |
| Sunday – Back and Biceps day – Pump | 2-3 | 15-25 |
| Monday – Chest and Triceps day – Pump | 2-3 | 15-25 |
| Tuesday – Back and Biceps day – Pump | 2-3 | 20-30 |
| Thursday – Biceps and Triceps day – Blast | 4 | 4-6 |
| Saturday – Chest and Triceps day – Pump | 2-3 | 20-30 |
The idea is to fill the muscles with blood on pump day. Get them so they are absolutely like balloons full of blood. It actually hurts when I am done. We then introduce an actual “arm day” where we blast the heck out of the muscles. The weight is very heavy and the form is not as strict, but still not sloppy. This is to force some growth. The arms effectively get trained 3 times a week using the Pump and Blast Arm Training Method.
This method will only work well if you recover well. My arms are ready 48 hours after a session to go again. I push hard and they respond.
Why Use the Pump and Blast Arm Training Method?
If your arms are stubborn the increased and varied training volume will do wonders for their growth. There is something about breaking down those muscles constantly that makes a huge difference. As the muscles recover they are immediately pushed hard again. This keeps the growth cycle going. I also use an instinctive method to my training, so if the arms are simply not ready for any reason, they get skipped. The only day I will try to avoid skipping is the blast day because, to be honest, it feels awesome.
Take it For a Drive
Take the Pump and Blast Arm Training Method for a test drive and see what you think. It is going to change how you see arm training in the future. That's what I truly believe.
Cedric looks amazing. He has size and definition. His conditioning was excellent. He has a very nice symmetry that aids in this victory for him. He obviously trained quite hard for this show. His delts are amazing, having nice peaks and a rounded look to them. His biceps are tremendous. His quads have nice separation and look massive.
Johnnie Jackson took second place behind Cedric McMillan. Johnnie is one of the strongest bodybuilders alive, having competed in many powerlifting meets. Johnnie's body is very asthetically pleasing to me. He looks big but balanced. He has awesome quads. He exudes that look of power.
Ed Nunn came in sharp. He always has decent size, but this time he was extremely defined. Third is a great showing for him. It will give him momentum going into other shows this year. Ed is one of those up and coming bodybuilders who we will hear a lot about in the coming years. Mark my words on that.
