23 Reasons Why

How Akim Williams Trains His Monster Arms

By Ron Harris

Heavy Artillery

Big arms are as common in bodybuilding as spots are on a leopard. First off, it’s the one training day absolutely no one ever skips. On top of direct work, they also get a lot of growth hits from heavy compound movements like bench presses, barbell rows, military presses and deadlifts. Arms have always held a prestigious place in bodybuilding. Some of the very best arms ever belonged to Mr. Olympia champions like Larry Scott, Sergio Oliva, Arnold, Ronnie, and Phil Heath. Those are biceps and triceps taken to an entirely other level. Comparing their guns to those of the garden-variety gym rat is like the difference between a .50 caliber Browning M2 machine gun and a little .22 Derringer a gambler tucks away in his boot if the poker game goes south. Even among the genetic elite of the men in the IFBB Pro League, only a rare few have arms that are in that freak category. On the current pro scene, one of these gunslingers with the heavy artillery is New York’s Akim Williams. Competing at 250-265 pounds and holding 308 pounds in the off-season, Akim is a thick monster all around. People talk a lot about his huge legs, but even more so about his ridiculous biceps and triceps. Once he gets to the 300-pound mark, those round and full slabs hanging off his delts stretch the tape measure out past 23 inches. Full disclosure time. His arms were a strong point within months of picking up his first weight at age 21, and he even needs to be vigilant of his biceps gains to ensure they don’t overtake and overpower his physique. Still, he’s picked up a few things over the years training himself as well as training with other pros like Juan Morel and Victor Martinez. Here’s some solid advice on how to do some of the most popular arm movements.  

Barbell Curls

Since we’re being transparent, Akim hasn’t used free weights for his biceps since before he started competing almost 10 years ago. It’s all machines and cables for him, and the form he sees all the time on classic free-weight barbell curls is part of the reason why. “With free weights, you’re able to cheat and swing the weight up,” he says. “When you do that, not only do you not isolate the biceps like you’re trying to do, but you can also mess up your joints throwing those weights up.” That’s not to say that barbell curls can’t be done properly and deliver results. “Don’t worry about trying to curl some stupid heavy barbell,” Williams explains. “Use a weight where you can keep your elbows at your sides and curl the weight up in strict form, making your biceps do the work instead of other muscle groups.” Let me add to that if I may. If you are having trouble using strict form, don’t head for the curl machines just yet. Try doing your barbell curls with your back up against a wall or a flat column. This will force you to engage only the biceps. Don’t worry if the weights are a bit lighter— your biceps are getting all the stimulation like they’re supposed to be.

Machine Preacher Curls

This machine is a staple in Akim’s biceps training, and the main attraction is the stabilizing function of the pad itself. “Your elbows need to stay on the pad when doing preachers,” he says. “You always see people doing preacher curls and lifting their elbows up off the pad as they curl the bar up. Keeping your upper arms flat against the pad will ensure that you fully isolate the biceps.” Those of you with dominant shoulders will likely get the greatest benefit from preacher curls. Dennis Wolf told me years ago that his biceps were lagging earlier in his career until he figured out that anything where his upper arms were braced, such as preacher curls with a barbell, dumbbell, or a machine, effectively took his cannonball delts out of the equation and at last gave his biceps a chance to get the work they needed to grow and catch up. When adjusting the seat of any preacher curl bench or machine, be careful not to set the seat so low that only your elbows are in contact with the pad, near the top. You want to wedge your armpits over the top of the pad, so your triceps lay flat along its surface to allow a full stretch and range of motion for the biceps. Just make sure you spray and wipe down the pad when you’re done!

Hammer Dumbbell Curls

Technically, the brachialis muscle of the upper arm isn’t part of the biceps or the triceps. Yet due to where it lies, situated between the lateral head of the triceps and the long head of the biceps, the way to work it is arm flexion, or curling, with the wrists pronated. If you were standing up with your arms hanging straight down, your palms would either be facing behind you or toward your upper thighs. The two best options for this are reverse barbell curls and hammer dumbbell curls. “Form is key on hammers,” says Akim. “Don’t be that guy who takes the 70s or 80s off the rack and swings them up like a kettlebell!” Instead, curl up and concentrate on squeezing this knot-shaped muscle for dear life on each rep.

One-arm Dumbbell Preacher Curls

Akim likes to do the preacher curl machine with both arms at once as well as unilaterally, which allows him to put more focus into each individual biceps. One difference in performance technique when he performs them one arm at a time is greater emphasis on the negative stroke of the rep. “I will come up and squeeze, then take at least two seconds to lower the weight.” For those of you who have never even attempted such a slow and controlled negative, you will be surprised at the deeper stretch you feel in the biceps.

Cable Pushdowns

Like most champion bodybuilders I’ve ever known, Akim likes to precede every triceps workout with some type of cable pushdown to pump blood into the tri’s and more importantly, into the tendons and ligaments around the elbow to get them warmed up and ready to tackle the heavier stuff like skull-crushers, close-grip bench presses, or dips. Williams might use a rope attachment, a V-bar or a short straight bar. The form is always the same: piston-like reps with no pause at the start or finish of the rep. “That pumping motion is designed to do exactly that, get the pump going,” he states.

Dumbbell Kickbacks

Some exercises have been dismissed as useless for building size by so many “experts” that an entire generation of bodybuilders has never even bothered to try them. Dumbbell kickbacks are one such victim of snobbery. You may recall that one man with some of the most impressive triceps ever built, Roelly Winklaar, endorses them, and has relied on them for years to work his horseshoes. Akim also believes kickbacks have been unfairly forsaken. “I keep harping on form, but poor form is why kickbacks are ineffective in most cases,” he says. “You have to keep your elbow up high so that the humerus bone of your upper arm is parallel to the floor,” he points out. “That way you have tension on the triceps throughout the full range of motion.” We’ve all seen people all the way from clueless housewives trying out weights for the first time to meatheads with a dozen years of training logged let their elbows drop, leading to a swinging dumbbell that isn’t doing jack to stimulate the triceps.

One-arm Reverse Cable Pushdowns

Unilateral training is a mainstay in Akim’s arm training, and cables provide ample variations on that theme. One of his favorites for triceps is the one-arm reverse-grip pushdown, which attacks the hard-to-reach long head of the three-headed muscle. As with the standard pushdowns that he typically starts with, Williams prefers a faster, constant-tension rep tempo here. “I find that when you come to a full lockout and pause, you take some tension off the muscle and transfer it to the joints.”

One-arm Overhead Dumbbell Extensions

All bodybuilders should include some form of overhead extension in their triceps routines, whether that be a barbell, a dumbbell, or a cable pulley. Akim’s personal favorite is the seated cable extension machine, but he will use a single dumbbell from time to time as well. “The thing to remember here is to get that stretch on every rep,” he advises. “The temptation is always there to go heavier and cut your range of motion short. Don’t do it! The stretch is the absolute most important part of the rep on any type of overhead extension for the triceps.”

Dips

Compound movements for the triceps have a longstanding reputation of being more productive than extension movements, and Akim testifies to that belief. “I’m sure a lot of my triceps development came from heavy bench pressing,” he states. Heavy for him is five plates. I’ve never seen anyone who could put up that kind of weight on the bench who didn’t have some meaty tri’s. Dips have also been known to pack the mass onto triceps fast, and Akim has done his share of them. “The one thing to be most conscious of with dips is the angle of your torso,” he explains. “When you lean forward, you engage a lot more of the chest. If you’re doing weighted dips, this would allow you to go heavier for sure. But if you want to use dips to work your triceps, you should try to stay as upright as possible.”

And there you have it. Odd are you aren’t that one-in-a-million genetic freak capable of building monstrous 23-inch arms. And that’s OK! No matter what your genetics are, you can build bigger, thicker biceps and triceps with hard work and focus on proper form. In the meantime, we can all look to men like Akim Williams for motivation.

Facebook @IFBB Pro Akim Williams

Instagram @IFBBProAkimWilliams

Akim’s MHP Stack

Hyper Crush RTD – pre-workout
Dark Matter – post-workout
Activite Multi-Vitamin – with lunch

Adrenaline Drive – pre-cardio
BCAA STRONG – intra-cardio

UP YOUR MASS XXXL 1350

For more information, visit mhpstrong.com

Arm Routine

Biceps

Preacher Curl Machine                                      6 x 8-20

“Opposite” Preacher Curl Machine          6 x 8-20*

“Front Double Biceps” Cable Curls         4-5 x 15-20

Triceps

Rope Pushdowns                                                          4-5 x 8-20

V-bar Pushdowns                                                          4-5 x 8-20

Seated Triceps Extension Machine         4-5 x 8-20

*After doing his sets the standard way on the preacher curl machine, Akim gets up and out of the machine, positioning himself as if he were giving someone else forced reps on it. There, he does several sets of partial reps.

Training Split

Monday:                       Chest and biceps

Tuesday:                      Back and triceps

Wednesday:      Quads, hams and calves

Thursday:                     Shoulders, biceps and “a little chest”

Friday:                          Back and triceps

Saturday:                      Hamstrings, “a little quads,” and calves

Sunday:                        OFF

Contest History

2010 Bill Grant Classic                                       Novice Winner

2010 Brooklyn Grand Prix                                  Heavyweight Winner

2010 Eastern USA                                                         Light Heavyweight Winner

2011 Junior Nationals                                        Fourth, Heavyweight

2011 IFBB North American                                11^th, Heavyweight

2012 Eastern USA                                                         Super Heavyweight and Overall Champion

2012 USA Championships                                 Fifth, Super Heavyweight

2012 NPC Nationals                                          Ninth, Super Heavyweight

2013 IFBB North American                                Super Heavyweight and Overall Champion

2014 New York Pro                                                       11^th Place

2014 Chicago Pro                                                         Fifth Place

2014 Golden State Pro                                      Seventh Place

2015 Chicago Pro                                                         Third Place

2015 Tampa Pro                                                           Eighth Place

2015 Europa Dallas                                                       Third Place

2016 Chicago Pro                                                         Sixth Place

2016 Tampa Pro                                                           Winner

2016 Arnold Classic Asia                                   Ninth Place

2016 Kuwait Pro                                                            10^th Place

2016 Mr. Olympia                                                          15^th Place

2017 New York Pro                                                       Fifth Place

2017 California Pro                                                        Fifth Place

2018 New York Pro                                                       10^th Place

2018 Toronto Pro                                                          Second Place

2018 Muscle Mayhem Kansas Pro         Second Place

2019 Arnold Classic                                                       Ninth Place

2019 Arnold Classic South America        Third Place

2019 Indy Pro                                                               Second Place

2019 New York Pro                                                       Second Place

2019 Bigman Weekend Pro                               Second Place

Akim’s Best Gym Lifts

Barbell Bench Press      495 x 5

Incline Barbell Press      495 x 5

Barbell Row                                          495 x 6

Dumbbell Row                           200 x 6

Leg Press                                             2,300 x 5

Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Magazine” show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. Facebook Instagram