Anybody have tips for helping longer limbed guys pack size onto their Bi’s, and arms in general? Im only 6’ but i have long arms(and legs) for my frame and im working towards making then grow. Im having success with adding volume to them and getting good pumps, but not seeing much size difference. I realize ill never have huge ass arms probably but im still working on them.
Im currently supersetting a heavy lift with a light, higher rep lift such as BB curls with high rep hammer curls. Is this a good route to go, or no?
Thib posted a bis workout article which pushed my arms out an inch in a month, I have a very long wingspan for my torso size. Have a look through his articles, it was 6 months to a year ago. I did the option whether you do 6 sets of arms 5/6 days per week.
[quote]outlaws wrote:
Someone here said that they haven’t seen anyone, who’s at least 200 lbs & can do 10-12 strict pull ups with small arms
Just some food for thought[/quote]
I’d add that you don’t see many guys with 500lb squats or 400lb benches with small arms either.
Moral of the story: if you want to get bigger, concentrate on big compound movements and eating lots of quality food. Isolation moves will help but your big gains will be from the big moves and your nutrition, get these down first.
[quote]GetitUp wrote:
Im having success with adding volume to them and getting good pumps, but not seeing much size difference.[/quote]
In the last three months, how much bodyweight have you gained?
What were some of your recent PR sets on the big four lifts?
That’s basic and fine, yep. Don’t neglect direct triceps work, but don’t go overboard with it either.
[quote]Massthetics wrote:
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
[quote]Massthetics wrote:
stop isolating and do big movements, as the rest of your body grows so will your arms. and eat.[/quote]
Dude…[/quote]
its sensible beginner advice?[/quote]
It’s debatable beginner advice that disregards that the OP is kinda-tall and has long limbs.
[quote]Massthetics wrote:
stop isolating and do big movements, as the rest of your body grows so will your arms. and eat.[/quote]
Dude…[/quote]
its sensible beginner advice?[/quote]
It’s horrible advice, but what’s worse is that you offer it up in a way that makes it seem like you have some kind of credibility in this matter.
Nothing personal…you are just one example of many and even I have been guilty of it before. I also acknowledge that you seem to post mainly in the beginner section, so that’s at least good
But seriously, you beginners need to attach a disclaimer to the bottom of every single post that says something along the lines of
“My advice is nothing but a regurgitated synthesis of things I have read…proceed with caution.”
Unless you have personally invested about a YEAR into each of several different approaches to putting size on your arms, please do not prescribe fucking heavy compounds and eating to a skinny or skinny-fat beginner looking to build up his arms. “Stop Isolating?” Really?
To the original poster - for beginners, if you do things consistently and bust your ass, pretty much everything works, so find a way to lift that really makes you enjoy the fuck out of it and stick with it. If you don’t mind isolation work and you can mentally handle high-rep-based workouts, then yes you can unlock some great arm growth with high-reps and high frequency and yes, isolation work.
Beginners, you guys need to pass every piece of advice through a few different filters before you run with it. Take advice from people who have climbed the same mountains that are standing before you.
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
…for beginners, if you do things consistently and bust your ass, pretty much everything works, so find a way to lift that really makes you enjoy the fuck out of it and stick with it.
[/quote]
Possibly the best one-sentence advice for any novice lifter, regardless of long-term goal.
Pull-ups and dips got me up to 16" arms. This year I added in isolation work and my arms are now 16.5", but I now seem to have got stuck so my advice is only good up to there.
I got this arm circuit from elsewhere but it really does the trick. All sets are as many reps as possible, stopping one or two reps short of failure:
To be fair I dont feel Mass’s advice was terrible to a extent. If you wanna focus on arm growth you need heavy movements and you need big triceps. At the end of day Isolation exercises can help a beginner but if you cant bench 300 pounds or do atleast a few strict chin ups how big do you really expect to get your arms curling the 10-20lbs dumbells or doing at ton tricep kickbacks.
Biceps
Chin Ups
Barbell Curls
Hammer Curls
Triceps
Close Bench
Floor Presses
JM Presses
DB Extension
I know I dont have the very big arms but at 5’6" with 17 plus they look ok. I dont even do Barbell Curls but I will acknowledge they can be very heavy loaded mid range bicep movement. Almost all my arm work and growth comes from Back Training and Benching, Board Presses, JM Press, and some Volume DB Extensions every now and then. I wont say that that doing isolation is useless by any means but, once again most beginners are just going to need them.
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
…what’s worse is that you offer it up in a way that makes it seem like you have some kind of credibility in this matter.
But seriously, you beginners need to attach a disclaimer to the bottom of every single post that says something along the lines of
“My advice is nothing but a regurgitated synthesis of things I have read…”
[/quote]
Agreed. Massthetics has a disturbing tendency to speak in absolutes as a final authority on certain matters of which he has little experience. He’s young and will learn, no doubt.
Thanks for the replys, to answer a couple of questions: my lifts arent great by any means at 335 squat, 255 bench and 385 DL. I can do 10-15 strict pullups at 200lbs and my arms arent big either. I need to do more chins than pullups, but my left wrist acts up and makes it really painful to do chins. I do weighted pullups once a week, and plenty of compound and iso movements each week.
It probably does come down to eating more and gaining a little size/weight honestly, but im currently working at a deficit to drop some bodyfat.
OK, those lifts aren’t “great” but nor are they indicative of someone who needs to hear “just more heavy compound lifts you noob” (which is often directed at people asking this question). If you can bench 255 pounds and do 10-15 strict pullups (that is a wide range - there is a big difference between being able to do 10 pullups and 15 pullups - but I’m guessing you just don’t test your max unweighted pullups very often since you do weighted pullups), a lack of compound lifts isn’t the sole problem.
Proportionally, I’ve always felt that my arms are small compared to the rest of my upper body; in a related story, I’ve spent far more of my lifting career doing heavy compound lifts than doing direct arm work. It’s not exactly a mystery as to why I have a (relatively) thick chest, (relatively) wide shoulders, (relatively) wide back…and skinny arms.
We tend to look at these things in black and white terms without waiting for the necessary details. “Do more heavy compound lifts” is good advice for teenage kids who bench 135 pounds and spend most of their workout curling 20 pound dumbbells, while “do more isolation work” is good advice for someone that wants bigger arms but never does any curls, period. It’s that simple in some cases, but not in OP’s case.