Newly anointed IFBB Pro, Sam Sulek recently shared an off-season leg workout mixing control and intensity and for those wondering how the social media star taxes his upper body and grows such huge arms, the big man was back this week to demonstrate an epic arm day that illustrates the same trademark blend of brilliant form before going all out in the finish.
Sharing his arduous arm session for his four million+ YouTube followers, Sam Sulek left it all in the gym here. Try it for yourself.
Sam Sulek’s Off-Season Arm Workout
- Triceps Rope Pulldowns — 2 Sets, 10 Reps
- Skull Crusher Machine — 2 Sets, 10 Reps
- Cable Machine Straight Bar Pulldowns — 2 Sets, 10 Reps
- Stirrup (Underhanded) Cable Triceps Pulldowns — 1 Set, 8 Reps
- Stirrup (Overhanded) Cable Triceps Pulldowns — 1 Set, 5 Reps
- Single Arm Cable Triceps Pulldowns — 1 Set, 5 Reps
- Dumbbell Concentration Curls — 2 Sets, 15 Reps (each side) plus 1 Set, 12 Reps (each side)
- Seated EZ Bar Bicep Cable Curls — 1 Set, 14 Reps plus 1 Set, 10 Reps
Sam Sulek’s Workout Breakdown
Sulek starts out with triceps rope pulldowns and likes to feel the squeeze, pausing at the bottom of the move for a “real good moment.” He then gradually released the tension for a controlled negative. As with most of his exercises, Sulek goes as heavy as he can, “without going too crazy.”
The seated skull crusher machine is more comfortable on the elbows than the free weight version, says the YouTuber. “What this machine does specialize in, is the stretch,” observes Sulek. “More of s stretched, activated position.”
The bodybuilder grabs the straight bar next, noting that it can contort the wrist more than his go-to EZ Bar, “But it still feels pretty good,” he says. Feeling like he has got the heavy portion of his triceps work done, Sulek opts for the stirrup handles and they creak as he cranks out his underhanded/supinated reps before switching to an overhanded/pronated position, completing 5 more reps.
Moving on to dumbbell concentration curls, Sulek executes what he calls “self-assisted sets.” In other words, he starts his curls the regular way, but as fatigue sets in the bodybuilder uses his other arm to assist his working arm to make the lift, before releasing and making his working arm control the negative. This is a highly advanced move that could lead to injury, so it requires an understanding of how much weight is too much, but it does allow Sulek to eke out some extra work from his otherwise spent arms. To get a feel for the weight, Sulek warmed up off camera in his first set before his three self-assisted sets.
To finish, the “Pumpzilla” goes all out, making his seated EZ Bar curls, “A little nastier” than his previous work. Foregoing the technicalities, Sulek says that “if you can pick a weight, got nuts with it, and pretty much just empty your fuel tanks for what you can manage in that set, to like at least a degree that you’re happy with, and you know you actually pushed it, I don’t think there’s any need to really over do it.”
The 23-year-old says that he previously did drop sets for every set but feels he may have been over doing it that way. “I’d say, if 75% of your work comes from just regular, hard, straight sets to failure, and the in other 25% you dabble a little bit, I think that’s a good ratio.” The results certainly speak for themselves!
