Old School Arm Training with Breon Ansley

The undisputed King of Classic!

At the start of this contest season, Breon Ansley cemented his status as the greatest Classic Physique Pro alive. He was already the reigning Olympia champion. On the first weekend in March, in Columbus, Ohio, he emerged victorious among a stacked lineup of 31 men to become the first Arnold Classic champion in the newly added Classic Physique division. It was a hard-fought victory against a vastly improved and perfectly peaked Arash Rahbar. Part of what sealed the win for Breon was his phenomenal arm development. His jagged mountain peak biceps and sweeping horseshoe triceps were carved and split with chasms of intricate detail. Classic physiques have a long tradition of excellent arms, dating back to stars like Larry Scott, Arnold, Serge Nubret, and Robby Robinson. Breon bridges the gap between the generations, bringing modern striations and separation to add to the standards of fantastic mass and shape. I spoke with him about the nuances of training the biceps and triceps, because a lot of you don’t just want to get big – you seek utter perfection!

Breon on biceps training

Why do you think biceps training gets more attention than any other bodypart?

“Because we see them the most. That’s why they get more attention and tend to be trained more often than any other bodypart. Think about how popular a pose the front double biceps pose is. Boxers and UFC fighters even hit that pose at their weigh-ins! The biceps are also something that’s on display when you wear a tank top or anything with short sleeves. Anyone who works on his physique wants great biceps, and anyone who competes understands how critical it is to have them developed in almost every pose.”

Were biceps a bodypart that responded well for you from the start?

“Yes, they always responded well for me from the get-go. You might even say they were hyper-responsive in terms of both size and strength gains. My biceps had a natural peak to them. But I still train them hard and with a strategy, so I can continue to fine-tune them.”

What exercises have you found to be most effective over the years for your biceps?

“Definitely the big power movements like the barbell curl and preacher curls gave me great results. I also love all forms of dumbbell curls. No matter which one I’m doing, there is no swinging, just a constant focus on both the squeeze and the stretch. Lots of people will pay attention to the contraction, but they don’t focus on the stretch. The concentric and eccentric portions of the rep are equally important.”

Have you ever had to specialize on biceps to improve them? Or, were they ever getting ahead of other areas to the point where you had to cut back on their training?

“I’ve always been able to train my biceps hard, and once or twice a week. I’ve been lucky in that respect. I never want any bodypart to get overdeveloped to the point where I need to pull back and stop training it for any length of time. That would mean I’ve thrown off my symmetry and aesthetics, which goes against my principles with all this.”

How much training do you feel the biceps need? Do you think it’s common for bodybuilders to do too much for them?

“I think it’s a matter of what each individual requires. Some people will get satisfactory results working them once a week, others will need to hit them more often. You also need to consider your rest and your nutrition, because those have a big impact on your recovery. That being said, I don’t think working biceps 4-5 times a week would help anyone improve them. You need to give them some time to rest and recover. If you can recover from working them twice a week, or even three times, then by all means go for it. But be mindful of overtraining at all times.”

What rep range have you found works best for you for biceps? Do you think it varies from person to person? And do you prefer regular straight sets for the biceps, or do you also like to use techniques like forced reps, super sets, and drop sets?

“I like a mix of heavier weight and lower reps along with getting higher rep totals and longer time under tension via techniques like drop sets and supersets. And occasionally I will just rep out without even counting. You need to use both types of rep ranges to get the best of both worlds. Some people do find that they respond very well to sets of as few as 5-6 reps, while others discover that it might take as many as 20 reps for them to get their best biceps gains. I think you often hear that 10 reps is best simply because it’s in the middle, but I wouldn’t always stay with it.”

Many bodybuilders train biceps after back. Do you feel that can be effective, or do you think the biceps should be trained on a different day?

“This might vary for a lot of people depending on what phase of training they’re in. If it’s the off-season, you’re probably taking in a lot more calories and not doing a lot of cardio. In that scenario, you should have all the energy in the world to do back and biceps in one session together. Then again, some people, especially if they have no athletic background, don’t have the stamina and the endurance to train both of those and give 100 percent to both. Generally speaking, if you’re on a lower calorie diet and doing a good amount of cardio, you would probably want to do back and biceps at different workouts. Be smart and listen to your body.”

Arguments have been made both for and against strict form on biceps training. Where do you stand on that? Is there a time and place for both strict and looser form?

“I don’t think there’s ever a time or a place to let your form go. I don’t believe in sloppy form at any time, or any reason. Typically, loose form means you are engaging other muscle groups more so than your actual target. What’s the point? Is it just to use a heavier weight? Never lose your good form or your mind-muscle connection. Those are what’s going to make the muscle grow.”

How important are the biceps in the overall visual impact of a physique?

“There are so many poses we do in Classic and also in Open bodybuilding where biceps development is critical. Think about it – is there a single pose where you don’t see the biceps? Probably only the rear lat spread in bodybuilding. They’re critical to the overall look and flow of the body. If they’re strong, they will enhance every pose and your appearance from all angles. If they’re weak, they will detract from everything else.”

What do you think most bodybuilders who fail to see satisfactory results from their biceps training are doing wrong?

“Their form is off, they don’t train with sufficient intensity, and they don’t take in enough quality calories to support muscle growth. You can apply that to the triceps as well, or any muscle group. If you’re on point in all three of those areas, there is no reason that your biceps shouldn’t eventually look the way you want them to.”

Your biceps are definitely a strong point. Do you feel that gives you an edge in competition?

“It does, because as I just said, you see the biceps in almost every pose. And once you get to the very highest level of competition where everyone looks fantastic, it can come down to who has superior development in just one bodypart.”

Are you satisfied with your biceps development? Is there anything you want to improve about them?

“I am somewhat satisfied, but there is always room for improvement. They can always be a little bigger and have better detail. I’d love to have better separation between the biceps and triceps, and the biceps and front delts.”

Breon on triceps training

Were triceps a bodypart that responded well for you from the start?

“I would say my triceps had an average response to training. That meant they lagged behind my biceps for a while, because my biceps grew so very fast. My triceps definitely required a lot more time and effort before they finally weren’t overpowered by my biceps.”

What exercises have you found to be most effective over the years for your triceps?

“For a long time, I felt like I was failing somehow in my triceps training because everyone raved about how barbell or EZ-bar skull crushers were the best movement to pack on size. I tried and tried, but I never seemed to get much out of them. It was only when I was messing around one day and decided to try the same movement with dumbbells that I finally saw what all the hype was about. Doing those on a flat bench, either with both hands or one at a time, has helped me put on substantial size on my tri’s. The other movement I didn’t start doing as much of until the last couple years is the close-grip bench press. I have been using either a Smith machine or a barbell, but lately I seem to have finally mastered the right feel using a barbell. I plan on doing a lot more of those from here on in. They get that thick, meaty part of the triceps you see in the rear relaxed and rear lat spread poses, even though we don’t do the rear lat spread in Classic.”

Since the triceps get worked indirectly on pressing movements for the chest and the shoulders, do you worry that you might overtrain them if you hit them more than once a week?

“I don’t, because I arrange my training split to make sure they still get adequate rest and recovery. I think if you make a habit of training triceps the day before chest, for example, you might run into a problem with recovery. Recovery should always be something you’re conscious of.”

What rep range have you found works best for you for triceps?

“I found out that while 10-12 reps works really well for my biceps, I don’t start getting that deep ache and burn, or even get a decent pump for triceps, until I am about 12 reps into a set for them. So for me, the 12-16 rep range is best. Everyone should experiment with different rep ranges, and even then, go a little lower or higher at times too.”

Straight sets, or forced reps and supersets?

“I do all those, but it also depends on the movements I’m doing. I will do more supersets for the extension movements, whereas for a compound movement like the close-grip bench press, taking a little more time between sets and having someone give me forced reps helps me get the most out of it.”

How important are the triceps in the overall visual impact of a physique?

“These is not one pose we do in Classic or in Open bodybuilding where the triceps are not on display. They add to the overall shape and flow of the physique in all poses, and from all angles.”

Are you satisfied with your biceps development? Is there anything you want to improve about them?

“I am far from satisfied with my triceps. When people compliment my arms, nine times out of ten they specifically reference my biceps. My goal is to eventually make my triceps so good that people stop noticing how good my biceps are. Don’t get me wrong, I feel very blessed to have such good biceps. But the ultimate objective is to improve my triceps to the point where they are just as good. Really, I want a physique that is so balanced and proportionate from front to back and top to bottom that no particular bodypart stands out as being either better or worse in relation to others.”

Biceps routine

Machine preacher curl                          Warm-ups: 2 x 15

Sets:                                                   4 x 10-12

Incline dumbbell curl                             4 x 10-12

EZ-bar curl (wider grip)                         4 x 10-12

Superset with

EZ-bar curl (closer grip)                        4 x 10-12

Dumbbell concentration curl                 4 x 10-12

OR

Alternate dumbbell curl*                        4 x 10-12

EZ-bar reverse curl                               4 x 10-12

OR

Hammer dumbbell curl                          4 x 10-12

*For alternate dumbbell curls, Breon often will do 3 reps with each arm, then 3 with the other, until each arm has done 12 reps.

Triceps routine

Rope pushodowns                                               Warm-ups: 2 x 15-20

Sets:                                                                     4 x 12-16

Dumbbell skull crushers                                         4 x 12-16

Superset with

Dumbbell kickbacks                                            4 x 12-16

Close-grip bench press (barbell or Smith)              4 x 12-16

Single arm overhead cable extension*                   4 x 12-16

*Breon usually does these with minimal rest, just switching off arms until all 4 sets have been completed.

Contest History

2012 NPC Excalibur                                    Welterweight winner

2012 NPC Titans Grand Prix                       Second, Middleweight

2013 NPC Los Angeles Championships      Light-Heavyweight and Overall

2013 NPC USA Championships                   Middleweight winner

2014 IFBB New York Pro                              Disqualified

2014 IFBB Phoenix Pro                                Fifteenth place, 212

2016 IFBB Prestige Crystal Cup                   Winner

2016 IFBB Classic Physique Olympia           Fourth place

2017 IFBB New York Pro                              Winner

2017 IFBB Classic Physique Olympia           Winner

2018 IFBB Arnold Classic                             Winner

Training Split

Tuesday:               Delts AM, Arms PM

Wednesday:          Chest AM, Back PM

Thursday:              Miscellaneous, often arms

Friday:                   Chest

Saturday:               Back

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