Rich’s 8-Hour Arm Workout

One of the most intense workouts Rich Piana advocated for, was his 8-Hour Arm Workout. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s 16 mini-workouts consisting of 2 alternating biceps and triceps supersets done every 30 minutes for 8 hours. It’s an old routine that he created back in the pre-5% days. In this exclusive 2-Part Series, we’ll update it to take advantage of 5% Nutrition’s advanced line of supplements. Are you ready for our Rich’s 8-Hour Arm Workout - Updated 2023-Part1? Once you’ve seen what it’ll do for your arms, you’ll be begging to do it again!

A Little Background

The idea of a 1-Day Arm Workout is not new. In fact, the original owner of IronMan magazine, Peary Rader, first published a similar routine back in the 60s. From there, it made the rounds in the magazines of the day. (1, 2, 3)

In some early versions, you would only work biceps. That’s a big mistake, and Rich knew it. The triceps make up two-thirds of your arm size. If you want bigger arms, you must work both biceps and triceps. In addition, Rich used Hammer curls to hit the brachioradialis between the biceps and triceps. This muscle helps increase the size of your arms when properly developed.

Also, in many earlier versions, you might do the workout over 5 hours or 12 hours. The sets, reps, and exercises would often change. Yet any way you look at it, Rich’s approach was among the best.

Rich’s Original 8-Hour Arm Workout

Here is a look at the original workout:

Take off 2 days before attempting.
Eat well and get plenty of sleep.
The day of - have a nutritious breakfast - high in protein and simple/complex carbs.
Allow 2 hours for digestion.
Make 16 protein/simple/complex carb shakes (remember, this was pre-5% Nutrition).
Measure your arms before.
16 mini-workouts - every 30 minutes for 8 hours.
Expect it to get really tough at the halfway point.
After, measure your arms again.
Eat a meal packed with lots of quality protein and carbohydrates (not an excuse to eat junk).
Take 2 days off, and measure your arms again.

Rich’s Workout

Here’s the workout Rich used. We’re going to use this workout in our updated version. Hey, why change a good thing? A couple of tips. First, keep your weights moderate. You have to do this all day. If you go heavy and train to failure, you won’t last more than a couple of hours. You should push in every mini-workout, but go 1-2 reps shy of failure. Perform your reps using a slow and controlled technique, emphasizing the negative part of the rep. Rest a minute or less between supersets. Plan to begin this workout by 8 am.

Superset #1

EZ-Bar Skullcrushers

4 sets x 10 reps

EZ-Bar Curls

4 sets x 10 reps

Superset # 2

Dumbbell Extensions

4 sets x 15 reps

Dumbbell Hammer Curls

4 sets x 15 reps

Alternate these 2 workouts all day.

The 5% 8-Hour Arm Workout Stack

Considering that Rich put out a video covering this routine that pre-dates the creation of 5% Nutrition, we felt it was time to update it using 5% supplements. Therefore, rather than just mixing up a bunch of whey protein shakes with maybe a banana, here’s a look at the 5% products you should be using.

General Stack for Mass

Here are a couple of Stacks you should be using if muscle mass is your goal. By buying stacks and taking advantage of 5% Nutrition discounts, you can save money.

The Whatever It Takes Stack

Full As F*ck
All Day You May
Drink Sleep Grow
Crea-TEN

The Build Your Own Stack, 5 products, Save 20%!

Real Carbs + Protein
Bigger By The Day
TEST Test Booster
Kill It RTD
Joint Defender

Products For This Workout - Use The Core Line Build Your Own Stack, 4 Products, Save 20%!

Core L-Glutamine 5000
Core D-Aspartic Acid
Core ZMA
Core L-Citrulline
Freak Show
Digestive Defender

Recap

In Part 1, we looked at the history of the fabled 8-Hour Arm Workout and laid out the basics of Rich’s original pre-5% routine. We detailed your workout and then laid out the ideal 5% Nutrition supplement plan. In Part 2, we’ll plan out the complete nutrition and 5% supplement schedule. Get ready to grow!

References:

Peary Rader Arms Routine (senior-exercise-central.com)
The New One-Day Arm Cure (t-nation.com)
Special Big Arms Report-Build Big Biceps (criticalbench.com)

Rich’s 8-Hour Arm Workout - Part 1