Arm Help For Ectomorph

Training Bodybuilding
1

Hi all,

To give a bit of a briefing, I’m 20 years old and have been lifting since I was 14. I ran my first marathon at 15 and I’ve been practicing karate since 13. I’m no stranger to pain or difficulty, so please don’t tell me to go squat and DL heavy.

I’m 6’2’’ and weighed about 180lbs up until a year ago, when I finally got sick of being strong yet skinny and stopped running for two months and went on a huge bulk and gained 40lbs in about 6 weeks.

A lot of it was fat, but it felt pretty good. I peaked at around 225 and I’ve hovered around there since then. It was pretty rough, I was drinking around 50 eggs/day, 4-6 cans of tuna, plenty of 2,000 calories eggnogs, and a small portion of carbs. I went up in size all over, but my arms are still lagging. My currents stats are:

Bench: 260
Squat: 300
Deadlift: 400

I’ve got big legs and arms so I’m not real good at squatting. I normally do incline bench, so my flat’s gone down a bit, I think. I workout 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes or so, supersetting and tri-setting a lot of the time and going to failure on most sets.

I’m at around 14% BF right now and I’d like to get to 8-7% within a few months, but I’m also hoping to put on at least an inch or two on my arms. They were about 14’’ before I bulked, now they’re about 15.3’'.

I’ve tried all sorts of random programs to target arms, or in some cases, to not target them so that they have a chance to grow, but they’re really not getting anywhere. I normally hit tri’s with close-grip incline bench and bi’s with t-bar rows, incline bench barbell curls, pullups, and a few 21’s.

I’ve tried everything from extremely brief HIT arm sessions to longer, drawn-out sessions, and I’m plenty sore at the end but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything.

For diet, I get around 250-300g of protein a day with plenty of veggies and not too much carbs. I don’t take supplements, though I might if you think that’s what’s holding me back.

Any tips/advice? Thanks!

2

[quote]twfactory wrote:
Hi all,

To give a bit of a briefing, I’m 20 years old and have been lifting since I was 14. I ran my first marathon at 15 and I’ve been practicing karate since 13. I’m no stranger to pain or difficulty, so please don’t tell me to go squat and DL heavy.

I’m 6’2’’ and weighed about 180lbs up until a year ago, when I finally got sick of being strong yet skinny and stopped running for two months and went on a huge bulk and gained 40lbs in about 6 weeks. A lot of it was fat, but it felt pretty good.

I peaked at around 225 and I’ve hovered around there since then. It was pretty rough, I was drinking around 50 eggs/day, 4-6 cans of tuna, plenty of 2,000 calories eggnogs, and a small portion of carbs. I went up in size all over, but my arms are still lagging. My currents stats are:

Bench: 260
Squat: 300
Deadlift: 400

I’ve got big legs and arms so I’m not real good at squatting. I normally do incline bench, so my flat’s gone down a bit, I think. I workout 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes or so, supersetting and tri-setting a lot of the time and going to failure on most sets.

I’m at around 14% BF right now and I’d like to get to 8-7% within a few months, but I’m also hoping to put on at least an inch or two on my arms. They were about 14’’ before I bulked, now they’re about 15.3’'. I’ve tried all sorts of random programs to target arms, or in some cases, to not target them so that they have a chance to grow, but they’re really not getting anywhere.

I normally hit tri’s with close-grip incline bench and bi’s with t-bar rows, incline bench barbell curls, pullups, and a few 21’s. I’ve tried everything from extremely brief HIT arm sessions to longer, drawn-out sessions, and I’m plenty sore at the end but it doesn’t seem to be doing anything.

For diet, I get around 250-300g of protein a day with plenty of veggies and not too much carbs. I don’t take supplements, though I might if you think that’s what’s holding me back.

Any tips/advice? Thanks![/quote]

This is something I want to see real answers.

3

Curls and skull crushers. tbar rows for bis??? Those are supposed to work your back more. Try different types of curls.

I have a hard time feeling close grip bench on my tris. I know other people like them but I rather use an exercise that isolates them more.

4

I’ve tried all sorts of curls:

Drag curls (T-Nation special)
Regular and reverse preachers
Regular and reverse standing barbell
Incline bench with DBs (back against the bench and stomach facing bench, my favorite)
Incline bench with BB
Crossover cage curls
Concentration DB curls

I do t-bars with just a barbell (no grips or anything) and it definitely hits my bi’s.

I don’t think it’s that I’ve somehow missed a killer bicep exercise. I was more thinking that maybe there’s some specialization program that’s been proven (by more than just the author) to really work. I tried that all-day workout about a year ago, where every 30 minutes you do a set of curls and some tri extensions. Didn’t do anything.

5

[quote]twfactory wrote:
I’ve tried all sorts of curls:

Drag curls (T-Nation special)
Regular and reverse preachers
Regular and reverse standing barbell
Incline bench with DBs (back against the bench and stomach facing bench, my favorite)
Incline bench with BB
Crossover cage curls
Concentration DB curls

I do t-bars with just a barbell (no grips or anything) and it definitely hits my bi’s.

I don’t think it’s that I’ve somehow missed a killer bicep exercise. I was more thinking that maybe there’s some specialization program that’s been proven (by more than just the author) to really work.

I tried that all-day workout about a year ago, where every 30 minutes you do a set of curls and some tri extensions. Didn’t do anything.[/quote]

I think that program requires creatine to work.

There is the Doberman Dan 31 days to Bigger Arms. I tried both and did work. (I am still skinny, but a little less :P) And at least I did bring my arms closer to my other body size statistics. The doberman relies on reducing the work load on other bodyparts. There is a pdf on internet, describing it.

It is pretty simple, don’t waste time explaining why does it could work.

Hope to see your before/after pics.

6

What amaze me about this post is the “ectomorph” label, I would think that someone on your stats had left behind that kind of labels.

7

10-12 lbs of overall muscle growth (not fat) will be required if you want to see another inch on your arms.

That may not be 100% in every single case but it sure wont happen as you are dieting down like you want to.

Pick one or the other, not both at the same time.

8

[quote]derek wrote:
10-12 lbs of overall muscle growth (not fat) will be required if you want to see another inch on your arms.

That may not be 100% in every single case but it sure wont happen as you are dieting down like you want to.

Pick one or the other, not both at the same time.[/quote]

i missed that piece of info, and I REEEALLLY agree with you 100%.
You will not increase by reducing. There is info about losing arm size by cutting. There is a test to know how fat is your arm by flexing it (you can’t flex fat), states that: the greater difference between flexed/unflexed the less fat you have in arm. So by cutting, you will lose part of that inches.

9

Yeah, I’ve read that all over and I’m sure it’s got a good amount of merit, but I was hoping I could get around that by not cutting my diet too much, just taking out dairy products and extra fats and sugars, and coupling it with a few cycles of clen.

I actually found that Doberman Dan 31 program a while back but never got around to trying it out. I’ll give it a whirl and see what happens. Thanks!

Oh, and the reason I still consider myself an ectomorph is because, while I may not be the twig I once was, my size gains are still just as hard as they were back when I was visually an ecto. I don’t think an endomorph who finally cuts down to a meso or ecto’s size is then considered an ecto–he’s just proven that he did what it took to play his cards well, right?

10

[quote]twfactory wrote:
Yeah, I’ve read that all over and I’m sure it’s got a good amount of merit, but I was hoping I could get around that by not cutting my diet too much, just taking out dairy products and extra fats and sugars, and coupling it with a few cycles of clen.

I actually found that Doberman Dan 31 program a while back but never got around to trying it out. I’ll give it a whirl and see what happens. Thanks!

Oh, and the reason I still consider myself an ectomorph is because, while I may not be the twig I once was, my size gains are still just as hard as they were back when I was visually an ecto.

I don’t think an endomorph who finally cuts down to a meso or ecto’s size is then considered an ecto–he’s just proven that he did what it took to play his cards well, right?[/quote]

so, if you think so: why to bother yourself using that labels.

I propose you to think this way: You are you, becoming a better you.

Let me know if it works as well for you as it did it for me.

give the doberman dan a try, you have plenty of life to enjoy and learn, and a new body to shape as you wish.

11

This july 4th has been boring, nobody is posting, I has been all the day without getting in a keyboard fight.

12

This is the article:

http://www.T-Nation.com/article/bodybuilding/lost_training_tips_an_oldschool_collection_of_muscle_insight

…

13

The arm challenge of Dr. Darden seems to work. Try that out.

14

[quote]rephore wrote:
… seems to work…/quote

did you try yourself?

15

[quote]juanjromero wrote:
I think that program requires creatine to work.
[/quote]

Wait. What?

[quote]twfactory wrote:
I’ve tried all sorts of curls:

Drag curls (T-Nation special)
Regular and reverse preachers
Regular and reverse standing barbell
Incline bench with DBs (back against the bench and stomach facing bench, my favorite)
Incline bench with BB
Crossover cage curls
Concentration DB curls

I do t-bars with just a barbell (no grips or anything) and it definitely hits my bi’s.

I don’t think it’s that I’ve somehow missed a killer bicep exercise. I was more thinking that maybe there’s some specialization program that’s been proven (by more than just the author) to really work.

I tried that all-day workout about a year ago, where every 30 minutes you do a set of curls and some tri extensions. Didn’t do anything.
[/quote]

Of course not, it takes a lot more than 1 day to build bigger arms.

I used to think there was some big secret I was missing to enlarging a certain muscle, but when it came down to it, I was simply not trying hard enough.

Surplus food + heavy weight + sleep = growth.

If one of these is not right, then fix it. I’ve found the formula to hold water.

Do more direct arm work. Vary curls, do them HEAVY so that you are struggling. Train your arms twice a week, using different set/rep schemes eat time. They will grow.

16

[quote]rsg wrote:
juanjromero wrote:
I think that program requires creatine to work.

Wait. What?
[/quote]

I was refering to the one day arm fix.

the 31 days to bigger arms, works anyway.

So, maybe he did not pump enough. I did the program, but I was loaded on the day, I cotinue curling and stop creatine and the gain remains. I know it works. I did not restrain that week from using my arms as usual. And I warranty you now, that the 3/4" is still there.

I wrote in another thread: this kind of routines are for shocking the muscle and in no way will replace the continuos and disciplinated effort.

17

[quote]juanjromero wrote:
I wrote in another thread: this kind of routines are for shocking the muscle and in no way will replace the continuos and disciplinated effort.[/quote]

These kind of routines are meant for people who have 20" arms and are struggling to get them to 21".

18

How much can you barbell curl and close-grip bench/skullcrusher right now compared to 6 months or a year ago?

19

I’ll probably get flamed for this but, as a change of pace throw in some body weight stuff. My arms respond very well to dips, chins, push-ups (close grip) Reverse dips etc. Just a suggestion.

20

[quote]rsg wrote:
juanjromero wrote:
I wrote in another thread: this kind of routines are for shocking the muscle and in no way will replace the continuos and disciplinated effort.

These kind of routines are meant for people who have 20" arms and are struggling to get them to 21".[/quote]

So, it brougth me one inch more, what is the deal? is it forbidden for the skinies? Let the guy try it. or state why don’t.