TrainersEye · Arm, Biceps & Triceps Health
Arm, Biceps & Triceps · 30 Sessions

Thirty sessions.
Twelve minutes each.
An arm that works.

Five phases, 180 different movements, no repeats — from nerve glides and isometrics to heavy loading and the rehearsed swing. Written for tennis and golfer’s elbow, biceps and triceps tendon pain, and forearm and grip overload.

Before you start

See a doctor first — do not start — with left arm pain plus chest tightness, breathlessness or sweating on exertion; a sudden pop at the elbow with a lump in the upper arm and weak twisting of the forearm; a hot, red, swollen elbow with fever; numbness, weakness or muscle wasting in the hand; arm pain with neck pain and pins and needles down a specific finger line; or night pain with weight loss or a lump.

Two things that imitate an elbow problem. The neck refers pain down the arm — suspect it when there is neck stiffness or tingling in a specific finger line. And a compressed nerve at the elbow or wrist causes numbness and weakness rather than tendon pain. Both need checking before loading.

Which elbow is it? Outside, worse gripping and lifting palm-down, is extensor-side (tennis elbow). Inside, worse gripping palm-up, is flexor-side (golfer’s elbow). Front of the shoulder or the crease of the elbow is biceps. The point at the back is triceps. All four load the same way — the emphasis differs.

Pain-free grip is your number. Squeeze until the first hint of elbow pain and note the effort. It is retested at sessions 6, 12, 24 and 30 and it is the most responsive measure an elbow has.

The pain rule: up to 5/10 during, back to your normal by the next morning, no worse week to week.

Kit: a table, a chair, a door handle, a towel, an elastic band, a hammer or bottle, and a loaded backpack or two water jugs.

Phase 1Settle and glide

ASettle the elbow. Move the arm. Load nothing.Six drills that restore elbow and wrist range and load the tendons with isometrics only — no gripping hard, no weight. BSmall circles. Soft squeezes. Nothing sharp.Gentle rotation, the first grip work and the shoulder blade set — the base the elbow sits on. CSlide the nerves. Never stretch them. Feel the difference.Three nerve glides and three isometric angles — the session that sorts a nerve problem from a tendon one. DOpen the hand. Turn the palm. Press the table.The muscles that open the hand, the ones that turn it, and the first triceps loading through a table. EPrayer. Reverse prayer. Then the first reps.Wrist range at both ends and the first unloaded curls and extensions. FSix sessions in. Test the grip. Then start loading.Phase 1 check-in: the pain-free grip test, the first real reps and the shoulder joint moving freely.

Phase 2Grip and forearm

GSlow lowering. That is the active ingredient.Phase 2 opens with the eccentric wrist work that sits at the centre of every elbow protocol that works. HPalm up. Palm down. Under load.Pronation and supination trained deliberately — the forearm job that every tool and racket demands. ISideways at the wrist. Nobody trains it.Radial and ulnar deviation, the wrist roller and the crush grip — the forearm's forgotten directions. JHeavier. Slower. Still pain-free.The eccentric work gets loaded, the rotation gets a longer lever, and the grip gets a real test. KHold at length. Carry heavy. Press with the fingers.Isometrics at the end of range, loaded carries, and the fingertip work that rebuilds pinch. LTwelve in. The grip is back.Phase 2 check-in: the grip retested, the wrist tested both ways and the carry timed.

Phase 3Biceps and triceps

MTwo-thirds of the arm is triceps.Phase 3 opens on the arm itself — curls and extensions, both loaded slow, both trained equally. NFive seconds down. Every rep. No exceptions.Eccentric loading for both arms, then the first bodyweight pressing. OAt length. Where tendons actually fail.The long heads of both muscles loaded in the stretched positions — behind the body and overhead. PThree angles. Full range. Then the burn.Isometric holds at three elbow angles, plus the two hardest bodyweight triceps movements. QHeavy. Slow. Both arms.The heaviest loading of the arm in the programme, plus the towel work you can do anywhere. REighteen in. Count the reps. Compare the arms.Phase 3 check-in: curls, push-ups, dips and the isometric holds — every number written down.

Phase 4Blade and chain

SThe elbow is the middle of a chain.Phase 4 opens at the shoulder blade — a weak base sends its work straight down the arm. TPull as much as you push. Or the elbow pays.Balance day: every pressing movement matched by a pull, because the elbow sits between the two. UOverhead. Loaded. Locked out.Pressing overhead and the dip loaded — the two hardest triceps positions, with carries behind them. VHold the blade. Row in a plank. Nothing twists.Stability under load — the arm working while the trunk and blade hold everything still. WCurl to press. Press to pull. One arm, whole chain.Compound arm work — movements that link the elbow to the shoulder and the trunk. XTwenty-four in. Push, pull and hold.Phase 4 check-in: the pressing, the pulling, the carry and the grip all measured again.

Phase 5Load and return

YHeaviest yet. Slowest yet. Still clean.Phase 5 opens with the heaviest loading of the programme, before any speed goes near the elbow. ZQuick hands. Controlled stops. Nothing snaps.The first speed work — fast concentric, slow eccentric, and the arm learning to absorb. AARehearse the task. Slowly first. Then at pace.Whatever the arm is going back to — a racket, a tool, a keyboard — it gets rehearsed here. ABThe swing. Every side. Under control.Racket, bat and tool patterns rehearsed in every direction, with the trunk doing the work it should. ACFull load. Full speed. Still no pain.The hardest session: maximum reps, heavy carries and fast grip work, all on top of the strength built. ADThirty sessions. Both arms. Within ten per cent.Graduation: pain-free grip, curl and press maximums, dips and the endurance tests — written down side by side.