Chins + CT’s “Violent Variations”. Anyway you can’t get big arms if you don’t increase your body weight. Try to put on 10 lbs of lean body mass to optimistically get about 1 inch on your arms. To obtain this goal, you should train hard with basic compound exercises + proper recovery and nutrition.
loopfitt,
Your list of bodybuilders was not needed. I never stated that working biceps directly made them smaller! How foolish is that?
My point was that in order to conserve time, effort and save on potential injury, you can have great arm size without doing specialization work.
loopfit:
If you want olympia quality biceps, you can use a lot of juice and isolated movements to get them, I don’t deny that. This may not be the most efficient way though. Dorian Yates, one of the largest men ever to compete, used mass building exercises (Very heavy t-bars, @ a bw of 320lbs offseason, did weighted wide grip lat pullups with 100lbs chained on his waist) and attributed them to his continued progress at higher levels. He used biceps isolations merely as ‘finishing’ not the ultimate growth stimulus.
Isolation is overrated IMHO. I do not believe in leg extensions, hamstring curls, bicep curls, pect decks, tricep kickbacks, etc. 2 Exceptions to this rule are calves and forearms (and perhaps lateral raises for shoulders) because they can’t receive proper stimulus otherwise. If you use these exercises, it should be sparingly in comparison to mass-builder compound mvmnts.
In my experience, the best way to get huge arms, torso, well developed everything, all you need are these 8 exercises (and their variants):
- Full Squat
- Stiff legged Deadlift
- Chinup (weighted, Close grip/ wide grip)
- Row (T-bar/cable/barbell)
- Calf Raise (seated/standing)
- Bench Press (Flat/incline, close/wide grip)
- Military Press (to neck/sternum)
- Dip (close/wide grip)
Forearms and abs are optional. You will have a 6-back and bowling pin forearms if you deadlift 2-3x your bw!
Screw every isolations exercise! They waste CNS resources, and mass building potential. Focus on incresing the weight you use in those core 8 exercises, and you will develope a great bodybuilders physique (assuming proper diet, rest, etc.).
It is undeniable: you will get great biceps if you chin (in proper form) with 100lbs chained to your waist. And great lats, too!
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ISO dumbell curls seem to work well ![]()
I don’t think anybody would knock the compounds; they should be at the core of everyone’s program. But the question is essentially asking for an arm specialization routine, or at least an exercise or two to place a little extra emphasis on the arms. As such, I don’t see anything wrong with adding a few isolation exercises.
I keep a heavily loaded EZ curl bar in my bedroom (can you tell I’m not married) and whenever I am feeling a need to give my arms an extra blast; I belt out a few reps. Would you find this recommended in any program? Probably not. Are my arms bigger for doing it? Absolutely.