The Mr. America contest was a prestigious competition judged by experts. Back in the day, it was not the most freakishly muscular who took the trophy straight home. It was the individual with the greatest muscle symmetry, balance, harmony, and posing routine, who deserved to be called “Mr. America.”
The judges were well-educated and possessed knowledge of human anatomy. Money didn’t run the competition; it was based on the desire to win a special place in the history of America by placing first and becoming immortalized, but being a judge was not always an easy job. One of their tasks was to evaluate each muscle group. Such a decision takes time, and it could be the major factor between winning and losing. A prominent example of deciding the winner was the Mr. Universe contest, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger competed against Chester Yorton, who was seven years older and more mature.
Jan Dellinger, a historian of niche bodybuilding, recalled the situation as follows: “John Grimek wrote a report about the 1966 NABBA Universe. He didn’t judge the tall class but wrote that he heard the other judges deliberations. They were having trouble deciding between Arnold and Yorton. Eventually, they picked up Yorton as the winner because of his calves. I believe that two judges, Wag Bennet and Bert Loveday, voted for Arnold.”
The Mr. America “Best Arms” Champions
As you might have realized, the purpose of this article is arm training, and, as you might know, the internet is full of the same content. According to all bodybuilding-related websites, you must use concentration curls, triceps extensions, dips, and rope pushdowns to build super-huge arms.
All authors are credited with at least a couple of years’ training experience but lack the knowledge of history. Therefore, I want to try a different approach by using history to give you a bulletproof guide on how to train your arms, plus make you “history-conscious.”
Even John Grimek had the same approach. In his words, “Where would you go to find the best arms, and the most authentic advice on developing them? You’d ask the champions themselves, wouldn’t you?”
Above, you will see a spreadsheet of champions who had the pleasure competing at the Mr. America competition. They were all investigated by experts and received individual score points for their muscle groups.
As you might know, the Mr. America contest started running in 1936, and Bert Goodrich was the first Mr. America winner. During my research, I discovered that he always appreciated the use of dumbbells for arm training.
Later, in the ‘40s, the organization behind Mr. America started to consider evaluating each muscle group. The magazine Strength & Health began to publicize a “Mr. America Series,” in which the champions explained their methods.
A quite impressive and important figure in the writing game was John Grimek (aka “The Monarch of Bodybuilding”), who won Mr. America in 1940 and was awarded “Best Arms.” Since then, he has published numerous articles on multiple topics for decades, and his content has been approved by multiple generations of athletes.
John Grimek’s Arm Story
John Grimek was born on June 17, 1910, and, at the age of 25, he developed a keen interest in bodybuilding and writing about it. Bob Hoffman, the owner of Strength & Health magazine, gave Grimek the opportunity to work under his tutelage.
John Grimek is credited with being the “Monarch of Muscledom,” but some individuals are going further and claiming that “he was the nearest thing to God on Earth.” To keep it real, even such a man was not spared of plateaus and downfalls.
I managed to find three old articles entitled: “Shoulder and Arms Combination for Bigger Arms” (1954), “How to Develop Big, Powerful Arms” (1955), and “Developing Triceps”. In the first cited issue, John Grimek revealed how fast he developed big arms but then couldn’t put more mass on. A plateau is a common circumstance in the muscle game.
How did he overcome the plateau? He concluded that a program “which involves the arms, shoulders, forearms, and wrists” is necessary to develop muscular arms. According to the article, his measurements increased, and his arms were a half-inch larger than ever before!
He outlined the following principle:
“ Biceps – Regular curl, barbell. Alternate curl, dumbbells. Concentration curl, with barbell prone on bench or with single dumbbell, leaning.
Triceps – French press (triceps extension), barbell or swingbell. Triceps concentration, leaning, with dumbbells. Regular press, with barbell or dumbbbels.
Shoulders – Lateral raise, standing, dumbbells. Alternate forward raise, dumbbells. Lateral raise, leaning, dumbbells.
Forearms – Wrist curls, barbell. Windup on wrist roller. Work the forearms until tired or until they are fully congested and flushed. ”
(We outlined how John Grimek trained his forearms here: https://neckberg.com/john-grimek-how-to-build-forearms/)
When doing squats, you can hurt your knees; when doing bench presses, you can hurt your deltoids. The same thing can occur when curling. Some old-school lifters couldn’t go further with arm-training due to a painful injury, and they asked themselves, “Why do my biceps hurt when curling?”
Writer and physical culturist John Grimek battled with the same issue and tried to deliver a workaround for it. In the article, “How to Develop Big, Powerful Arms” (1955), he wrote that the reason he stopped curling was an annoying pain in the crook of his arms.
So, how did John manage to retain his biceps size? He explained it as follows: “I did other exercises that helped to activate the biceps and kept them in fine condition. Exercises like the high pull up, cleaning weights to shoulders, all types of rowing exercise influence the biceps much more than most bodybuilders realize. (..)
Nevertheless, the one exercise that in recent months has been employed more often than any other since I’ve given up the curling is, the “pull down to chest” with an overhead pulley, using both the supinated and pronated grips. For warm up I may repeat the movement 12 to 15 times, then keep adding weight and repeat eight to 10 times.”
John on Triceps Development
In the article, “Developing Triceps” (1955) , there’s Mr. America winner Gene Bohaty, who performed an exercise to get “big, horseshoe-shaped” triceps. The illustration shows the finishing position.
According to John, one triceps exercise is not enough because the triceps are a much larger area than the biceps. He outlined a different kind of exercise to target the multiple heads of the triceps. For overall development, he recommend using the bench press because it influences the triceps and “other muscles, such as the pectorals, anterior deltoid, and upper back all help, and more often, these muscles get tired long before the triceps get their share of the work.”
Furthermore, he recommended using proper technique on the bench. “Bouncing off the chest and the arching-back method will result in less triceps work,” was John’s thinking when it came to bench-pressing technique.
The chest expander has been a long-favored tool of Grimek, and he attached two great exercises to it. According to John, it’s important to use exercises that directly work the triceps. He outlined the following exercises, which he favored: one-armed military press, bench curl, extending arms from elbows with cables, and the down-push on the overhead pulley.
Finally, John warned then-bodybuilders that picking up a favorite exercise and repeating it would result in disproportionate size. The dip has been a long-favored mass triceps-builder of the majority, but Grimek had a different opinion on it. In his words, “Many consider the dip or pushup an outstanding triceps developer and this exercise has helped a large number to develop a sharp lateral head, but overall effect is not any greater than numerous other arm straightening exercises. If you include three varied pressing exercises in your training routine, you should include one or two more direct ones.”.
David P. Willoughby
John Grimek’s approach to stimulating the arms was ahead of its time. The only individual who realized earlier that all muscles were connected was weightlifting historian David P. Willoughby. He devoted numerous articles to arm-training. One of his arm-related articles starts with a strong philosophical introduction: “If, as the philosopher says, ‘Knowledge is power,’ then knowledge of the muscles should help the bodybuilder develop them.”
Then he explains that “a bone can be moved only by some muscle or muscles which, while having one of its ends attached to that bone, has the other end attached across a joint to another bone. Thus, the upper arm bone, for example, is moved by muscles attached to the upper part of the trunk (the muscle-attachments crossing the shoulder-joints). The forearm is moved by muscles which cross the elbow-joint. The hand is moved by muscles which cross the elbow-point.”
All articles written by him are packed with scientific explanations and anatomy drawings; plus, he explains every muscle group and its function. He includes great pictures of athletes with biceps development (e.g., Eric Pederson, Eugen Sandow, and Ed Theriault). Furthermore, like John Grimek, David strongly recommends training your antagonist muscles—which, in this case, are the triceps.
There’s a fabulous article written by David entitled, “Some Noteworthy Examples of Arm Development.” According to David, one of the most famous examples of arm development in America was Joe Nordquest of Ashtabula, Ohio, who was in his physical prime in 1917.
Back in those days, there were no benches to train the chest. So, a lot of old timers were forced to bench on the floor. They used the exercise “Pull-Over and Press on Back.”
By practicing these kinds of presses, Nordquest acquired his powerful triceps. At a height of 5’7 1/2”, his right upper arm measured 17 3/4” when flexed, and 17” when straight. His forearms, too, were quite exceptional, measuring 14 1/2”.
Another strong individual was Ian Mac Batchelor (aka the “Hollywood Hercules”), who pressed 350 pounds five times in succession lying flat. Batchelor stood at 6’2”, weighed between 270-292 pounds, and had 19” biceps, 14.9” forearms, and 8.3” wrists. His all-round strength of arms, forearms, hands, and fingers was simply prodigious. We published an article how he trained his forearms here: https://neckberg.com/mac-batchelor-the-undefeated-arm-wrestler-2/
David explained that Nordquest incidentally did a great deal of hand-balancing and handstand-dipping, as well as supine-pressing with a barbell.
The greatest arm developer is the exercise curl. In David’s words, “With reference to the flexor muscles of the arm, the finest example of size and development are to be found among lifters who practice or once practiced the curl, whether this exercise was performed with a barbell, dumbbell, or kettlebell.”
He compared the strength level of each lifter (e.g., John Grimek, John Davis, and Hermann Goerner), and he concluded that Al Berger’s curl of 202 1/2 pounds was the best!
Boyer Coe
If you carefully analyze the above spreadsheet, then you will realize that Boyer Coe won the title for “Best Arms” three times in a row! Dennis B. Weis, then-writer of the magazine Iron Man, had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing him in person, and Boyer’s biceps drew Dennis’ attention immediately. In his words, “One will notice when looking at Boyer in person or through the various muscle magazine photos that his arms are his best body part. Many people have asked him what the SECRET TO BUILDING such large and shapely arms is. Boyer mentioned to me that his total arm gains (size, shape, definition) has always been his easiest muscle area to respond to exercise movement. Boyer said that if he cared to he could push his arms past their present size with little trouble. He will never do this because he says it will destroy
the HARMONY AND SYMMETRY that he has striven for over the years. Coe concludes his arm training with a “little” forearm work.”
I am a huge fan of Dennis and bought his great eBooks. Furthermore, he gifted me with some great content on bodybuilding. Check out his great website at www.dennisbweis.com. I am not affiliated with him, nor am I getting paid by him. I appreciate his work, and I am happy to share this gem with you. For me, it’s important to support our iron sisters and brothers!
Boyer Coe’s Arm Workout
Triceps:
- Lying Barbell Triceps Extension
- One-Armed Dumbbell Kickbacks
- Lateral Machine Pushdowns
- Standing Barbell Triceps Extension
Biceps:
- Standing B.B. Curls (a favorite for the bicep muscle)
- Lying Dumbbell Curls on a Flat Bench
- Incline Dumbbell Curls
- Curls on a Pulley Machine
- Barbell Wrist Curls.
- Barbell Reverse Curls.
- Plate-Loaded Grip Machine
Special and Unique Arm Exercise
The YouTuber Peter Khatcherian is currently becoming popular by publishing content on niche old-school bodybuilding. He published numerous videos, and all of them obtained hundreds of thousands of views. In November 2021, he published a video entitled “Old-School Arm-Training Secrets” , in which 1979 Mr. America Don Townes performs a unique way of training the triceps. According to Peter, he used the above-illustrated triceps exercise to build up his 19” arms.
He described the exercise as follows: “It is almost a combination of a triceps kickback and a reverse pull-over, but if you are experimenting with it, then you will find that it creates an insane contraction and generates a massive pump to the target muscles.”
In the Comments section, people were thrilled to learn more about that exercise—especially its origin—but Peter had some trouble researching it and wrote, “There’s very little info on it out there.”
The exercise draw my attention, and so I did my own research. I found an old bodybuilding magazine, and in it, there’s an article entitled, “Building Better Triceps.” It was published in the ‘50s and penned by George F. Jowett. Here’s what George wrote on the technique:
“The exercise is not exactly new (…). It is more than a triceps developer because it involves the powerful supinator longus muscle of the forearm. It is important that both these muscles function together, simply because the supinator longus of the forearm is natural co-ordinating muscle with the triceps in straightening the arm. (…)
It is not necessary to employ a heavy weight in order to obtain complete action of the triceps. All you need to begin with is a 25lb bar of iron, or a barbell of this weight.
Stand erect with your feet spaced well apart, holding the bar behind your hips with the palms of your hands facing front, and with a wide hand spread gripping the bar. Your next step is to bend your body forwards until it is at right angles with your legs, and while in this position bend your hands well back on your wrists, holding your arms rigidly straight. This is the actual starting position of the exercise.
From this position slowly raise the bar as high as you possibly can without allowing your body to be bent further forwards. You will feel an inclination to do so, but you must resist this pressure using your body as a fulcrum to obtain the fullest resistance from your triceps.
When you feel you have raised the bar to the fullest of your ability, pause briefly, and then strive to raise the bar even higher. You may not succeed, and if you do it will be only a short distance, but the effort at this point will gain better results for your triceps than the rest of the movement. To further emphasize the effort of your triceps at this point twist the bar up and down without lowering the height of the bar too much. This will cause your triceps to function vigorously over all its muscular area in a manner that will thrill you. (…)
The arms must be held straight throughout the exercise, and the hands kept bent back on your wrists (…) The best way to practice this exercise is by using sets. Start with 6 counts, then 4, then 3, and 2. Some bodybuilders make the mistake of performing this exercise by raising the bar as they bend the body forwards. Others, by holding the hand too closely together. Either way is wrong as it neutralizes the effect of the exercise on the triceps. ”
Reg Park, Arnold’s Role Model
Big and bulging biceps in a t-shirt will scare men and seduce women. Sylvester Stallone’s veiny forearms are convincing evidence of manhood and strength. Reg Park, a Mr. Universe winner, is another specimen who can easily match Stallone’s biceps development. The pictures of Reg should be enough evidence that he possessed bulletproof knowledge of how to build huge arms.
Reg Park contributed a lot to the world of bodybuilding. He appeared in many magazines (e.g., The Muscle Builder, Muscular Development, and Strength & Health), and he used to run his own publication, entitled Reg Park’s Journal, in which he published an article entitled “My favorite biceps routine” and enlisted some of his favorites to share how they built up their arms.
One of his favorite exercises is the “Cheat Barbell Curl.” By “cheating,” he does not mean swinging it, but curling the weight as far as possible, until it reaches the sticking point, and then he merely leans back slightly to complete the movement. He used to perform three sets of eight reps each.
The Incline Dumbbell Curl
The Incline Bench is most famous for pressing exercises and is ideal for performing a variation of the alternate curl, which will make your arms throb and pulse with huge size and power.
The illustration shows the starting position. From here, lower your right arm and curl your left arm. Perform 10 repetitions with each arm, making sure the movement is smooth and steady. Repeat the exercise for three sets.
The seated two-arm dumbbell curl is next. The bells are curled together from the thighs to the shoulders. Take advantage of the secrets of the champions and swing a little in this exercise to permit you to use more weight and fill your biceps with great power and form. Perform three sets of 10 reps each. Make sure that you have a feeling of bulging size from this exercise. Your biceps will be pumped up fully and firmly if you perform it correctly as explained.
Bend-Over Concentration Curl
Start with the arm fully extended toward the ground. Now, while consciously tensing the biceps muscle, curl the weight (as shown). Think hard about the tensing biceps and exert yourself to make them contract as forcefully as possible. Perform three sets of 10 reps for each arm.
According to Reg Park, the “push-down” is one of the greatest triceps exercises ever practiced. It was brand-new to him when he first came to America. The first time he practiced, his triceps became sore and stiff.
Now, we will go to work on the triceps to make them large, full, and etched deep with that impressive horseshoe formation, which denotes complete development.
To start the exercise, pull on the bar of the lateral machine until it is in the position shown in the illustration. Now, while keeping the elbows close to your sides, push down on the bar until it is all the way down (as shown). While keeping the elbows close to your sides, permit the bar to raise only as far as shown in the illustration and repeat for three sets of 10 reps.
The seated alternate dumbbell press will give you real power in the triceps. Start as shown in the illustration. Now, press your left hand above your head, and while doing so, lower your right arm. Repeat for three sets of 10 repetitions for each arm.
Even while in England, the dumbbell press behind neck was a favorite of Reg Park’s. Start as shown in the illustration. Now, press the dumbbell above your head. Lower and repeat three sets of 10 repetitions each.
Here is another great exercise that will give you tremendous triceps definition. Just look at how the triceps is so clearly defined in the exercise illustration to give you an idea of how powerfully this movement influences that muscle! It is performed with a wall pulley. The pulley must have a floor attachment so that there can be an upward and backward pull. To perform the exercise, grasp the pulley handle, while keeping the upper arm close to your side. Bend the arm at the elbow towards the front, like the one-armed curl position. Now, straighten the arm towards the back, as shown in Illustration. Repeat this exercise for three sets of 10 repetitions each.
How Often Should You Exercise Your Arms?
If you are on the lean side, then Reg Park would recommend no more than three biceps and three triceps workouts per week. If you are on the meaty side, then it may well be that you could exercise your arms up to five workouts per week. Personal experience will have to be your guide in this matter.
Currently, I am reading Arnold’s book, The Education of a Bodybuilder, and he revealed that he bought all the magazines that published Reg Park’s programs. During my research, I also came across a lot of material on Arnold’s training, and he employed some of Reg’s arm exercises (e.g., cheating curl, standing biceps curl, seated dumbbell curl, and bend-over concentration curl).
Schwarzenegger’s Arm Training
If there was one iconic image of bodybuilding from the ‘70s, then it would have to be the bicep shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger. So, how did it all start? The German magazine Kraft Sport Revue was the pioneer to cover Arnold’s training and muscular development. Issue #20, published in 1966, was the first mag to bring Arnold into the public eye. That specific issue was never reprinted, and so its circulation is quite limited. Back in the day, you would have had to pay $2 for it, but today—especially on eBay—the price is just going wild! I don’t want to copy/paste the content from it; I would rather compare it to other magazines.
You might be interested in reading how Arnold transitioned his routine from the ‘60s to the ‘70s. Fortunately, the American magazine Iron Man (May 1975 and June 1975 issues), provided two great and authentic training articles on Arnold, penned by John Balik. The May 1975 article, entitled “Arnold—A First Impression,” centres around Arnold’s goals and mindset. The June 1975 issue contains a training article entitled “The Trainingphilosophy of Arnold”, which deals with Arnold’s preparation for the 1974 Mr. Olympia competition.
I also want to compile the German publications. Kraft Sport Revue Issue #20 contains material on Franz Dischinger’s training routine, but no information on Arnold. It seems that Issue #30, published in 1967, printed content on Arnold.
As you may remember, John Grimek and David Willoughby paved the way for proper biceps training. The delts, forearms, and triceps possess a strong connection to the biceps, and so neglecting those muscle groups would result in less biceps development. The German magazine Kraft Sport Revue Issue #30 stated that Arnold started his arm day with biceps work, followed by the triceps and deltoids. The article, entitled “Arnold’s Mr. Universe Preparation” and penned by Albert Busek, gave an insightful view of the exercises that Arnold favored. According to Albert, he started on Mondays with his arm program. For the biceps, he used to curl heavily with a barbell, and he loved to cheat.
In Kraft Sport Revue Issue # 47, Arnold discusses curling and goes into more detail about cheating. Arnold’s maxim is: “Swing with your hips and don’t bend your back.” As you might remember, Reg Park cited the same philosophy on the cheating curl, and Arnold took him at his word. Arnold tried curling for five repetitions with great technique, and afterwards, he implemented the cheating movement.
After that exercise, Arnold sat on the bench and gripped the bench with his left hand. With his right hand, he performed the dumbbell-curl. According to Albert, that movement was “Arnold’s special exercise,” and “in doing so, he rotates the barbell outward sharply with each repetition, making the biceps-peak particularly prominent.”
John Balik also witnessed him dumbbell curling in the ‘70s and described it in the same manner as Busek—that Arnold had a special way of curling. In Balik’s words, “He likes the dumbbell curl because it allows the rotation of the hand as it is raised.” According to Busek, he used to do 10 repetitions for eight sets each. After reaching the second set, Arnold went straight into a set of barbell curls, then he’d continue the third set of dumbbell curls.
An exercise that you barely see in any commercial gym is the concentration curl, in which you bend your whole body while the other hand is placed on the knee to stabilize the movement, then you grab a dumbbell from the floor to utilize the curl movement.
Bend your upper body for big biceps!
Kraft Sport Revue Issue #47 provides a great picture of Arnold doing that exact exercise. The mag was published in 1968, and since then, Arnold has never stopped doing it. The documentary Pumping Iron was released in the 70s, and if you watch it carefully, then you will realize that Arnold was still doing the bend-over concentration curl. In the ‘60s, he did six sets of eight repetitions. For everybody who wants to know exactly how Arnold performed it, the YouTube channel “Fitness-Freak” provides a great clip of it:
For the triceps, he did the following exercises: closed grip bench press, lying-french press on bench (w. barbell), triceps pushdown, and one-handed lying-frenchpress on bench (with dumbbell). Repetitions and sets ranged from 6-8.
Arnold finished his arm workout by training the deltoids. He performed the following exercises: seated neck press, military press, and standing lateral raises. According to the German magazine, Arnold trained his arms and deltoids three days a week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. This was in 1967.
I own other mags, published in 1968, and they reveal how he specifically trained only his biceps and triceps. The mags give no clue as to whether Arnold combined arms with delts or forearms.
I am so proud to own those magazines, which have great and authentic content on Arnold. The cover of Issue #47 is just mind-blowing and beautiful. His arm size doubled, as compared to Issue #20! What was his secret? Issue #47 contains an article entitled “Schwarzenegger: Strong Arms Through Special Exercises,” and below, I outlined the exercises that Arnold favored in 1968.
Arnold’s Favorite Curl Movement
Arnold started his arm workout with the barbell curl, in the same manner as in 1966. Some repetitions were performed with the proper technique, and the rest were cheated. In the ‘60s, Arnold really enjoyed employing bend-over movements; the whole article is covered in them. Arnold’s next biceps movement was the bend-over concentration curl.
Kraft Sport Revue from 1968 provided great pictures of it, and it’s the same technique used in the Pumping Iron movie mentioned and linked above, but Arnold used a dumbbell, which allowed him to attach a special handle to it. According to Arnold, it was just a special handle, and he didn’t go into much detail. I remember that Reg Park published a dumbbell course, in which he used the same kind of equipment, but Reg Park called the widget a “kettlebell.”
Arnold’s third biceps exercise is performed on a bench. Kraft Sport Revue provided two pictures of it. In the first variant, Arnold is lying flat with his back on the bench and curling with two dumbbells. In the second variant, he is lying with his stomach on the bench and is facing the floor. Arnold described the benefits as follows: “I think the exercise is good because you can’t move your upper body … curl your forearms until they are horizontal.”
The following four other bend-over curls are different due to the kind of arm position they use, as Arnold changed the position of his arms. They are performed in the same manner as the above illustration, which I’ve taken from George F. Joewett’s course.
In the above picture, Reg Park curls with an odd dumbbell. He used an empty dumbbell and moved some weights onto the middle of it. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pictured with the same special dumbbell and performing his fourth exercise with it. Arnold called that exercise “Bend-Over Curl with Special Barbell.”
Arnold’s fifth biceps exercise is the Incline Bench Curl. The elbows are close together. After the last repetition, Arnold included three more half-repetitions. Arnold also did the three following exercises: (1) Bend-Over Curl with Barbell, (2) Bend-Over Zottman Curl, and (3) Bend-Over Reverse Curl.
Arnold’s Triceps Workout
Kraft Sport Revue Issue #48 contains Arnold’s full triceps workout, which is just the continuation of the above outlined biceps workout. Arnold also did the following exercises: Triceps-Pushdown, One-Handed Triceps Press with Dumbbell, Bench Press with Barbell, Bend-Over Triceps Kickbacks with Dumbbell, and Bench Press with Dumbbell.
Half-Movement for Curling
Arnold’s two main secrets are the bend-over position and the half-movement. In 1968, Arnold was heavily isolating the biceps, and he included one crucial trick to blow them up—the famous half-movement. It was first published in Kraft Sport Revue Issue #30, then Iron Man outlined Arnold’s half-range of motion technique, and there’s footage on YouTube of Arnold explaining it that was filmed in the ‘80s.
When Arnold moved to America, he employed further special exercises (e.g., the preacher curl) and the took advantage of the Arm Blaster equipment. I bought Arnold’s book, “The encyclopedia of modern Bodybuilding”, and compared the content from the mag to it. The book was published in 1985, and Bill Dobbins is listed as the co-writer. I checked the whole book, and Arnold’s famous half-rep technique is completely missing from it. (For more info, read my “Preacher Curl” article.) The book consists of a lot of exercises, and great pictures, but I don’t have the feeling that it was written by Arnold because it’s missing some crucial techniques from Arnold’s heyday. However, I don’t want to say Bill Dobbins did a bad job; I respect him because he’s making a living with the iron game, and he is an authority.
Arm Exercise Spreadsheet
You may be unsure how to choose the right exercise to build super-huge arms. So, I created the above spreadsheet and compiled the data from the mags. As you might realize, the cheating curls, bend-over curls, and preacher curls are Arnold’s long-time favorite tools!
On my blog, I devoted an entire article to the Preacher Bench Curl, and it’s a necessary read for any novice: https://neckberg.com/preacher-curl-every-champion-used-it-heres-how/
Good luck choosing the right exercise to build your arm size to another level!