In training, it’s important to differentiate between what we need and what we want. Case in point, we all probably need better recovery between our sessions in order to recuperate, grow stronger and be ready for our next gym hit, but we all want bigger arms. What’s the modern man to do?
The good news is these two equally important goals aren’t mutually exclusive, and using our ‘cool-down curls’ protocol you can get in a hefty dose of bicep-building volume, alongside a central-nervous-system-calming, recovery-boosting bout of breath work.
Grab yourself an empty olympic barbell and work your way through the following bicep, breath combo at the end of your next session.
Perform one barbell curl, aiming for impeccable form, a controlled tempo and a sleeve stretching squeeze of those arm cannons at the top of the rep.
Drop your bar onto a box or bench, stand tall and take one deep breath, in through your nose, aiming to fill your belly, then your ribcage, then your chest over the course or three-to-four seconds. Hold at the top of the breath for another three-to-four seconds, before slowly releasing the air from bottom to top. Pause for another few seconds at the bottom of the breath, then pick your barbell up and perform two curls. Drop your bar and take two breaths in the same fashion as above, followed by three curls.
Continue in this fashion, adding both an additional curl and breath each round, until you reach fifteen, clocking up a total of 120 bicep-building reps alongside slowing your nervous system, shifting your body into ‘rest and digest’ mode, and kickstarting your recovery, before you’ve even left the gym.
1. Barbell Bicep Curl x 1,2,3,4,5… to 15
Stand tall holding your barbell at waist height (A). With minimal momentum, curl the bar upwards, until it reaches your upper chest (B). Squeeze here and lower the weight under control taking a 3 count to bring it down, fighting all the way before repeating.
2. Box Breath x 1,2,3,4,5… to 15
Stand tall and a deep breath, in through your nose, aiming to fill your belly, then your ribcage, then your chest over the course of three to four seconds. Hold at the top of the breath (A) for another three to four seconds, before slowly releasing the air from bottom to top. Pause for another few seconds at the bottom of the breath (B).
With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.
