Arrgh, Long Arms Suck!

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
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I measured my wingspan compared to a friend of mine today at the gym. I’m 5’10 with a 78" wingspan, he’s 6’4 with a 76" wingspan, wtf? If wingspan is supposed to match up with height, then I’m 5’10 with the arm length of a 6’6 person. I have another friend who’s a bit shorter than me (around 5’7, I think) and I’ve always sworn his arms were bigger than mine. Measured his today, barely over 16" vs my 17.4", gay… I’m probably going to have to get them to 19" for them to look big to me.

On another note, do my forearms look too small for my upper arms or is it just me? Or is it the fact that my wrists are only 6" around that makes them look so small to me.

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[quote]kingbeef323 wrote:
I measured my wingspan compared to a friend of mine today at the gym. I’m 5’10 with a 78" wingspan, he’s 6’4 with a 76" wingspan, wtf? If wingspan is supposed to match up with height, then I’m 5’10 with the arm length of a 6’6 person. I have another friend who’s a bit shorter than me (around 5’7, I think) and I’ve always sworn his arms were bigger than mine. Measured his today, barely over 16" vs my 17.4", gay… I’m probably going to have to get them to 19" for them to look big to me.

On another note, do my forearms look too small for my upper arms or is it just me? Or is it the fact that my wrists are only 6" around that makes them look so small to me.[/quote]

Join the club…although your wingspan seems freakishly long. I am 6’ 1" and have a 75" wingspan. My wrists are very small, I can touch my thumb to my index finger around my right wrist. Not sure what all that means if anything…

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[quote]Mateus wrote:
kingbeef323 wrote:
I measured my wingspan compared to a friend of mine today at the gym. I’m 5’10 with a 78" wingspan, he’s 6’4 with a 76" wingspan, wtf? If wingspan is supposed to match up with height, then I’m 5’10 with the arm length of a 6’6 person. I have another friend who’s a bit shorter than me (around 5’7, I think) and I’ve always sworn his arms were bigger than mine. Measured his today, barely over 16" vs my 17.4", gay… I’m probably going to have to get them to 19" for them to look big to me.

On another note, do my forearms look too small for my upper arms or is it just me? Or is it the fact that my wrists are only 6" around that makes them look so small to me.

Join the club…although your wingspan seems freakishly long. I am 6’ 1" and have a 75" wingspan. My wrists are very small, I can touch my thumb to my index finger around my right wrist. Not sure what all that means if anything…[/quote]

Ha, I can get my thumb almost an inch overlapping my index finger around the wrist :frowning:

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[quote]kingbeef323 wrote:
Mateus wrote:
kingbeef323 wrote:
I measured my wingspan compared to a friend of mine today at the gym. I’m 5’10 with a 78" wingspan, he’s 6’4 with a 76" wingspan, wtf? If wingspan is supposed to match up with height, then I’m 5’10 with the arm length of a 6’6 person. I have another friend who’s a bit shorter than me (around 5’7, I think) and I’ve always sworn his arms were bigger than mine. Measured his today, barely over 16" vs my 17.4", gay… I’m probably going to have to get them to 19" for them to look big to me.

On another note, do my forearms look too small for my upper arms or is it just me? Or is it the fact that my wrists are only 6" around that makes them look so small to me.

Join the club…although your wingspan seems freakishly long. I am 6’ 1" and have a 75" wingspan. My wrists are very small, I can touch my thumb to my index finger around my right wrist. Not sure what all that means if anything…

Ha, I can get my thumb almost an inch overlapping my index finger around the wrist :([/quote]

DAMN! Do your wrists/forearms hurt when benching heavy because they are so small? Mine really hurt, like they are going to break, when I lift more than 225. At 315 I think they are crumbling to fucking pieces under my skin.

Where about in Florida are you from? Moved from West Palm Beach to Tennessee a few years ago.

5

[quote]Mateus wrote:
kingbeef323 wrote:
Mateus wrote:
kingbeef323 wrote:
I measured my wingspan compared to a friend of mine today at the gym. I’m 5’10 with a 78" wingspan, he’s 6’4 with a 76" wingspan, wtf? If wingspan is supposed to match up with height, then I’m 5’10 with the arm length of a 6’6 person. I have another friend who’s a bit shorter than me (around 5’7, I think) and I’ve always sworn his arms were bigger than mine. Measured his today, barely over 16" vs my 17.4", gay… I’m probably going to have to get them to 19" for them to look big to me.

On another note, do my forearms look too small for my upper arms or is it just me? Or is it the fact that my wrists are only 6" around that makes them look so small to me.

Join the club…although your wingspan seems freakishly long. I am 6’ 1" and have a 75" wingspan. My wrists are very small, I can touch my thumb to my index finger around my right wrist. Not sure what all that means if anything…

Ha, I can get my thumb almost an inch overlapping my index finger around the wrist :frowning:

DAMN! Do your wrists/forearms hurt when benching heavy because they are so small? Mine really hurt, like they are going to break, when I lift more than 225. At 315 I think they are crumbling to fucking pieces under my skin.

Where about in Florida are you from? Moved from West Palm Beach to Tennessee a few years ago.[/quote]

Yup, my whole forearm hurts after benching anything over 235. When I rack the bar I keep my hands wrapped around it for a few seconds to let the pain dissipate. This is also why I’m scared to try to bench anything heavier than 275, because I’ve dropped the bar on myself before a little over a year ago benching 195 where my wrists gave out. I also used to get a good amount of pain doing heavy barbell curls, but not so much lately (wonder if it has anything to do with drinking a lot of milk lately).

Currently living in Jacksonville.

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You don’t use wrist wraps? I got some thick ass apt ones I use on my later sets. They have helped a lot. Learned from powerlifters, doesn’t matter how big or small take care of your wrists, shoulders and elbows especially. I’m think of getting some of those elbow wraps to CC preaches about. having narrow ass joints and wrists sucks when it comes time to hit new prs and pushin’ more weight.

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Have you guys considered getting wrist wraps? Definitely worth it if your wrists are a weak point.

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my arms are 17 w/ a good pump and my wrists are 6.5 maybe, i can touch thumb to each finger, including pinkie around my wrist. i use wrist straps every time i pick up a weight.

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[quote]kingbeef323 wrote:
Mateus wrote:
kingbeef323 wrote:
Mateus wrote:
kingbeef323 wrote:
I measured my wingspan compared to a friend of mine today at the gym. I’m 5’10 with a 78" wingspan, he’s 6’4 with a 76" wingspan, wtf? If wingspan is supposed to match up with height, then I’m 5’10 with the arm length of a 6’6 person. I have another friend who’s a bit shorter than me (around 5’7, I think) and I’ve always sworn his arms were bigger than mine. Measured his today, barely over 16" vs my 17.4", gay… I’m probably going to have to get them to 19" for them to look big to me.

On another note, do my forearms look too small for my upper arms or is it just me? Or is it the fact that my wrists are only 6" around that makes them look so small to me.

Join the club…although your wingspan seems freakishly long. I am 6’ 1" and have a 75" wingspan. My wrists are very small, I can touch my thumb to my index finger around my right wrist. Not sure what all that means if anything…

Ha, I can get my thumb almost an inch overlapping my index finger around the wrist :frowning:

DAMN! Do your wrists/forearms hurt when benching heavy because they are so small? Mine really hurt, like they are going to break, when I lift more than 225. At 315 I think they are crumbling to fucking pieces under my skin.

Where about in Florida are you from? Moved from West Palm Beach to Tennessee a few years ago.

Yup, my whole forearm hurts after benching anything over 235. When I rack the bar I keep my hands wrapped around it for a few seconds to let the pain dissipate. This is also why I’m scared to try to bench anything heavier than 275, because I’ve dropped the bar on myself before a little over a year ago benching 195 where my wrists gave out. I also used to get a good amount of pain doing heavy barbell curls, but not so much lately (wonder if it has anything to do with drinking a lot of milk lately).

Currently living in Jacksonville.[/quote]

HOLY SHIT! Everything you just said is exactly what happens to me. I have to do the same thing with the barbell. Slowly loosen my grip to bleed off the energy collected in my wrists because if I don’t it hurts like hell. Are you still doing heavy working sets with bench even with the pain or have you gone onto something different? I have left barbell almost completely. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much with DB and my gym goes up to 160’s so I am good there. Anyways, Jacksonville is pretty cool. Love the lights from I-95 over the city at night.

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Drink some milk. Or talk a calcium supplement. I’m not a nutritionist, but it sounds like your bones are not being able to keep up with the stress.

Second, sleeve up. I was going to make a joke that I could touch thumb to thumb around my wrists, but truth is. I can’t even touch my middle finger to my thumb. I still wrap up my wrists.

I’ve been a dumb ass in the passed and screwed up my wrist (I swung a bat in a pick up game in Phys. Ed when I was in HS, how gay is that) so I do not even chance it. Same with the elbows and knees. Some people say it’s cheating, well last time I checked who gives a shit if I put up 5-10 more pounds as long as I’m semi-healthy at the end of the day.

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P.S. I feel you on the long arms, I do not remember my wing span, but it’s in the high 70’s. I’m 6’3" though, but it’s still fucking ridiculous.

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OP,
yeah in that pic your wrist and foreamrs do look a bit small
but you don’t know the blessing you got, long arms means greater strength potential, greater potential for size because there just more space to fill out. I envy the long arm freaks.

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long arms can have their advantages. think deadlift- less ROM.

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Your wrists are tiny !

I also suffer from Half Man / Half Bird Syndrome LOL

Maybe it’s just the photo though, measure your wrists ? Dunno about lifting heavy bench, to scared they’d snap or something lol

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I second the wrist wraps. I’ve had the same problems as you guys. Any kind of barbell curls and my wrists and forearms are in a ridiculous amount of pain for 4-5 seconds after the set. Loosening the grip gradually seems to help, but it still sucks.

I started using wrist wraps for overhead barbell press because I was worried about the bar flipping back off my wrists and smashing my dome. I’ve since started using it for anything above 85-90% of my 1RM on any kind of press, which seems to help alot.

I haven’t tried using them for barbell curls yet but may give it a try.

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i have the same exact problem with my wrists ( thumb to index ), and also have the same pain occur when benching heavy and doing barbell curls. i always start with a good stretch on my wrists to loosen them up a bit, then i wrap them before i do those exercises that are painful,

sometimes ill do the first set without them just to see how it feels. been wrapping for about 6 months now and i have to say my bench and BB curl have increased significantly and so has my wrist strength. good luck buddy

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To the guys who use wrist straps, wouldn’t just going “raw” allow your wrists to gain the strength to handle weight over time, without the pain. 6’ with a wingspan of 6’4 here, while having long arms might make it possible to get bigger in the long run, it sure sucks when you’re starting out.

I think everyone should just stop making these topics, every body type has it’s advantages and disadvantages, just look on the bright side, you can have a sick deadlift and when you reach 20 inch arms you’ll look HYOOOOOGE.

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[quote]waylo wrote:
i have the same exact problem with my wrists ( thumb to index ), and also have the same pain occur when benching heavy and doing barbell curls. i always start with a good stretch on my wrists to loosen them up a bit, then i wrap them before i do those exercises that are painful,

sometimes ill do the first set without them just to see how it feels. been wrapping for about 6 months now and i have to say my bench and BB curl have increased significantly and so has my wrist strength. good luck buddy[/quote]

Dude, I’m a pretty open minded guy, but…

Your avatar is bullshit, literally. You need to take that shit down, or not post, because good god dude, wtf is wrong with you?

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[quote]countingbeans wrote:
waylo wrote:
i have the same exact problem with my wrists ( thumb to index ), and also have the same pain occur when benching heavy and doing barbell curls. i always start with a good stretch on my wrists to loosen them up a bit,

then i wrap them before i do those exercises that are painful, sometimes ill do the first set without them just to see how it feels. been wrapping for about 6 months now and i have to say my bench and BB curl have increased significantly and so has my wrist strength. good luck buddy

Dude, I’m a pretty open minded guy, but…

Your avatar is bullshit, literally. You need to take that shit down, or not post, because good god dude, wtf is wrong with you?[/quote]

Agreed. Seriously, man.

To the OP: best part about tiny wrists is how awesome your forearms will look once they start filling out.

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I agree with counting beans, it takes all I got not to scare at that nasty turd while reading these posts.
Studying the color, density, and the general “?” shape of it.
Thats a thick piece of poop.