A traditional mass building routine can take a long time to complete. With all of the needed rest periods as well as the number and types of exercises needed to get a well-balanced routine, it can easily take one and a half to two hours or more. But what if you don’t have that kind of time or you want to do a two-a-day style routine? Then this quick workout for arms and shoulders is a great way to go.

This routine is built to target the biceps, triceps, and deltoids in various positions to get a well-rounded workout for the arms and shoulders. It can be done just once for a quick workout if you don’t have much time, or you can do it twice in one day for a two-a-day style mass building workout routine to put on size quickly. Keep in mind that if you are doing a two-a-day routine you need to have at least 6 hours in between workouts to make it most effective and you can only use this technique for two weeks to avoid issues like repetitive stress syndrome.

You can also make this short routine into a longer, more intensive one-a-day routine by simply repeating the workout twice in a row. To keep from burning your muscles out too quickly, you may want to take longer breaks in between exercises than we take in the video.

With any strength routine make sure that you have your weight set properly for the number of sets and repetitions you are going to be doing for that particular exercise. Everyone’s strength and endurance is different so be sure to take the time to set your weights properly before doing a full routine. In this strength routine you will find that the weight required for each exercise will vary greatly from one to the next. For example the weight you use for an Overhead Tricep Extension will typically be much lighter than the weight used for a Bicep Curl or Rear Deltoid Raise.

Another thing that many people tend to ignore when doing mass building routines is form over weight. Basically you should never use a weight that is too heavy for you to complete the exercise with perfect form and a full range of motion. If you use weights that are too heavy you will start to cheat by using momentum or limiting range of motion, which just causes a false sense of strength and can actually cause problems later on.

Unfortunately it is very difficult to provide an accurate calorie burn estimate for this routine as the amount of weight you use has a direct correlation to how many calories you burn. However, in general if you are lifting light weight you could burn as little as 4 calories per minute and if you are lifting heavy weight you could see up to a 10 calorie per minute burn, giving a range of 32 to 80 calories burnt with this 8 minute routine. But keep in mind that whenever you do strength training you create an “after burn” effect that causes you to burn calories at an elevated rate for 24 to 48 hours after your workout is done.


Quick Arm and Shoulder Workout
(10 repetitions each / 10-120 seconds of rest between each exercise)

Regular Bicep Curls
Ventral Raises

Overhead Tricep Extensions, Palm Down
Reverse Flys

Bicep Hammer Curls
Overhead Lateral Raises

Skull Crushers
Rear Deltoid Raises, Palms Back