Finally Got Over 18 inch arms but need....

Training Bodybuilding
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Finally Hit Goal But Need… 3 bulks later I finally got my arms to a tad over 18" at 5’11 230lbs. For being a natural ecto-meso starting with 13" guns at 155lbs thats an achievement for me. At the end of my last bulk my shoulders were overpowering my arms, so this year I changed my split to help bring up arms. PS I have knee issues so thats why theres no legs

I switched from a 4 day split of…Chest, OFF, Back, OFF, Shoulders/tri, Biceps, off.

too

A 3 Day split of…Chest/Side&Rear Delts, OFF, Back, OFF, Shoulder Press/Arms

This did help bring up my arms as I got them to 18" from a tad under 17" And now I had 3 workouts that were 1.5hrs each rather than four 1hr workouts.

Anyway I would like to cut about 15lbs, which really isnt a lot. But id like to try and maintain as much size and strength as possible, especially in my arms. I am just worried that with low energy levels from a diet that getting through 1.5hr workouts might be hard, even though there is only 3 a week. Basically wondering if switching back to the four day split would be a better idea or if I should just stick to what I was doing.

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You must look like johnny bravo. Knee issues ah?

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[quote]Swolegasm wrote:
You must look like johnny bravo. Knee issues ah? [/quote]

Lol youd think but my quads have always been big. There something like 26-27" and they dont get to much smaller even when I get to low bf% Any help though

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Shoulders overpowering arms?

Wish I ever had that ‘problem’!

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[quote]McMusclesNHam wrote:

[quote]Swolegasm wrote:
You must look like johnny bravo. Knee issues ah? [/quote]

Lol youd think but my quads have always been big. There something like 26-27" and they dont get to much smaller even when I get to low bf% Any help though[/quote]
If your arms increase was all muscle you have nothing to worry about. If there was some amount of fat gained on them then sorry but you will lose some size off that measurement if you drop weight. Arms are amongst the first to lose fat too so dont be too discouraged and drop your diet if you notice them decreasing in size.

That said doing what you did will be fine for maintaining the muscle gain.

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[quote]Gl;itch.e wrote:

[quote]McMusclesNHam wrote:

[quote]Swolegasm wrote:
You must look like johnny bravo. Knee issues ah? [/quote]

Lol youd think but my quads have always been big. There something like 26-27" and they dont get to much smaller even when I get to low bf% Any help though[/quote]
If your arms increase was all muscle you have nothing to worry about. If there was some amount of fat gained on them then sorry but you will lose some size off that measurement if you drop weight. Arms are amongst the first to lose fat too so dont be too discouraged and drop your diet if you notice them decreasing in size.

That said doing what you did will be fine for maintaining the muscle gain. [/quote]

Yes that is true but I meant more so of worrying about losing arm size through strength going down. The concern was is 1.5hr workouts too much on a cut to keep your strength up past the first hour. Last cut my workouts were 1hr max but thats because they were the same when i was bulking.

my basic shoulder/arm day is

Heavy BB Shoulder press: 20, 8, 6, 6, 4, 2-5 reps, then 135lbs x 20 rep burnout

BB Curl: 12, 12, 8, 6, 5, 3-6
Preacher: 8,8,6,3-5
Cable Curl: 8,8,8 run the rack dropsets

CGBP: 8, 6, 3, 3, 3-6, 135lbs x 25 reps burnout
Weighted Dips: 8,8,8,6
Tri Pushdowns: 8,8,3-6 run the rack down dropsets

This takes about 1.5hrs

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[quote]Gl;itch.e wrote:
If your arms increase was all muscle you have nothing to worry about. If there was some amount of fat gained on them then sorry but you will lose some size off that measurement if you drop weight. [/quote]

Lol yeah he gained 75 pounds–all muscle.

OP, as a general rule, go by the mirror not the tape measure/scale…are your arms defined & seperated, or just a big blobby mess?

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What’s wrong with going back to the 4 day split? 45 min 4 x a week seems better than 1.5 hours 3 x a week. That being said, if what you’re doing is working keep doing it.

When you’re doing your shoulder/arm day are you doing your shoulders first? If your arms are a weak point I’d do them first, just so you have more energy to do them.

Congrats on the gains so far!

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People overestimate the “low energy levels” when going into a diet. I’ve only experienced the serious ‘ass dragging’ on days when I’m only doing cardio and as such I intentionally have much less to eat than on a normal dieting day. Of course if you’re doing a cut that extends for several months, it can just wear you down mentally.

One thing to really consider, which was mentioned, is exactly how much of your arm mass gains were muscle. If you’ve gotten (mentally) used to eating excessively more than you genuinely needed to be, then you’re going to notice a serious drop in how you feel going into any training session, no matter if you’re training 3x or 4x a week.

My usual advice is to still train as if you’re gaining even when you’re dieting. So with that in mind, if you’ve been happy with your most recent results, I’d suggest staying with it, at least for the onset of your cut. Then, after a few weeks, you can realistically assess whether you really need to alter any variables or not.

S

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[quote]want2getlean wrote:
Shoulders overpowering arms?

Wish I ever had that ‘problem’![/quote]

lol… I have the reverse problem. My shoulders and traps responded nicely to a 10-week spec program I did this winter, but my arms wont grow anymore. Its them genetiKs!

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[quote]xilinx wrote:

[quote]want2getlean wrote:
Shoulders overpowering arms?

Wish I ever had that ‘problem’![/quote]

lol… I have the reverse problem. My shoulders and traps responded nicely to a 10-week spec program I did this winter, but my arms wont grow anymore. Its them genetiKs![/quote]

care to share your spec phase for shoulders? Im interested in how you balanced or maintained your other muscle groups over this period. The idea of seriously dropping volume and intensity on other muscle groups is whats stopping me from trying a proper spec phase at the mo.

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No pics?

EDIT: I should clarify that I’m not doubting you, I just figured we’d get a picture.

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So do you have ARMS or HAMS MrMuscleandhams?

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The point of this thread was that yes while bulking and eating excessive cals, 1.5hr shoulder/arm day worked. But even then it felt like it was dragging on, once I got past 1hr 10 mins. And I was wondering if working out 1.5hr workout on a defict was asking for strength plummets over time.

Also yes last year I was 230lbs with 17.3 inch arms. After cut they were 16.75inch, that was after a 40lb cut as well. This year im 230lbs with 18 inch arms so I predict they’ll be 18inch if I play this right after cutting 15lbs. Anymore weight I think they would go to 17.75inch.

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[quote]Gl;itch.e wrote:

[quote]xilinx wrote:

[quote]want2getlean wrote:
Shoulders overpowering arms?

Wish I ever had that ‘problem’![/quote]

lol… I have the reverse problem. My shoulders and traps responded nicely to a 10-week spec program I did this winter, but my arms wont grow anymore. Its them genetiKs![/quote]

care to share your spec phase for shoulders? Im interested in how you balanced or maintained your other muscle groups over this period. The idea of seriously dropping volume and intensity on other muscle groups is whats stopping me from trying a proper spec phase at the mo. [/quote]

Well, it the first time I was doing anything like this, and I went by what the experts say, and trained everything else once 7-9 days, with about 2 exercises for 3-4 sets. I maintained strength, but work capacity did drop, especially on legs.

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I hate thread like this. Really 18 inch arms and 17 inch arms and kiss my bloody white ass. Why care so much about your arms? Bodybuilding is about symmetry, proportions. Not about who will get fatter to get the bigger arms. ALso, I want to see pics of those arm and those 26 inch never-trained quads. People who care about their arms, usually are not impressive. So, prove me wrong.

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so… wheelchair bodybuilding gets you out with a rage? the man cant train his legs, so he does what he can. that’s the spirit!

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[quote]niksamaras wrote:
I hate thread like this. Really 18 inch arms and 17 inch arms and kiss my bloody white ass. Why care so much about your arms? Bodybuilding is about symmetry, proportions. Not about who will get fatter to get the bigger arms. ALso, I want to see pics of those arm and those 26 inch never-trained quads. People who care about their arms, usually are not impressive. So, prove me wrong.[/quote]

Well you certainly arn’t impressive thats for sure.

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[quote]niksamaras wrote:
I hate thread like this. Really 18 inch arms and 17 inch arms and kiss my bloody white ass. Why care so much about your arms? Bodybuilding is about symmetry, proportions. Not about who will get fatter to get the bigger arms. ALso, I want to see pics of those arm and those 26 inch never-trained quads. People who care about their arms, usually are not impressive. So, prove me wrong.[/quote]

LOL at this…from one of the least impressive here.

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[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]niksamaras wrote:
I hate thread like this. Really 18 inch arms and 17 inch arms and kiss my bloody white ass. Why care so much about your arms? Bodybuilding is about symmetry, proportions. Not about who will get fatter to get the bigger arms. ALso, I want to see pics of those arm and those 26 inch never-trained quads. People who care about their arms, usually are not impressive. So, prove me wrong.[/quote]

LOL at this…from one of the least impressive here.[/quote]

At least I carry my 210 pounds around without worrying about my arms’ size.

EDIT: Also, check out my age. For 19, I look damn good. Not even close to best, but pretty darn good.