My name is Luis Prieto. I’m 32 years old, 5"9 and about 225lbs. I’ve been lifting continuously now for 5 months or so and due to limited time only do 2 separate workouts with 3 day rest for each.
First workout is triceps/chest/shoulders which consists of 3 sets 80lb dumbbell flat bench, 3 sets 80lb bench on the ground/ 3 95 lb laying pull overs for top chest. I do 3 sets of Arnold presses usually 6/8/9 reps. The heaviest i have been able to go on Arnold’s is 67.5 lb dumbbells. Then i do 3 sets of tricep extensions, 3 sets of lateral raises, 3 sets of WS with dumbbells and finish off with tricep kickbacks superset with laying across body tricep extensions.
For biceps and back i do 3 sets regular curls heavy with regular grip and hammer grip. 2 sets of curls with shoulders dropped and arched of regular grip and hammer grip, and 2 sets of cross body curls of both regular grip and hammer. I do rows in between each set and 4 sets of laying lat extensions with dumbbell.
My goal is 18 inch arms lean and think it’s probably best to bulk up and cut. I’m looking for any suggestions. Also, i only take creatine minohydrste
I would love to train legs but i am very busy and don’t have time to hit up a gym. I only have 2 dumbbells that i can only get 77.5 lbs on each and a barbell. I’m building a house next year with a dedicated 24x24 gym and will buy new equipment then.
Lemme get this straight, you have 150+ pounds of weight, just in DBs, and don’t think you can train legs? How much weight is on your barbell?
Pistol squats with or without weight could easily be a staple. Then you could try to do 100 total reps of lunges with your maxed out DBs, followed by goblet squats for similarly high reps. Finish it up with RDLs.
I suppose you are right. However I’m also very limited in time. I’m very busy and felt like i could sacrifice my legs since i have quite muscular legs. I will be doing a leg workout next year when I have more time. Thanks for the tips though. I’ll look at those lifts and make it s routine
Wrapping up my supply chain management degree, managing a couple construction projects, and i have a high needs 4 year old. I barely squeeze in my workouts as it is. I’ll have more time early next year, but I’ll try to squeeze a quick leg workout with the suggested lifts.
Do one less set of every exercise in your current workout, then do 2-3 sets of one leg exercise at the end of each workout, you’ll be sorted.
I would add Bulgarian Split Squats or Reverse Lunges at the end of your chest/shoulders/triceps session, and single-leg hamstring bridges at the end of your back/biceps session
You’re already onboard, so I’m fighting a battle that’s over, but just to help a little with the tedium of doing legs: most of us believe leg work will help add overall mass.
Good luck on the arm size. If I could go back and be young, my only $0.02 would be to not necessarily focus on a metric if my goal is aesthetics. It led to far too much fat gain for me
Thanks man. I thi k 18" is reasonable as I’m looking at this as a lifestyle and priority. I used to powerlift when I was 21 and i had achieved those numbers but i was very invested in it. I’ll definitely start up legs next week. Thanks!
Arms are a real weak point for me. So I’m prolly not the best person to offer advice on this, but here’s what I can offer you……
In the 22 years I have been training, no amount or type of direct arm work has ever made my arms grow even 1/4”.
The only times they have ever grown was when my heavy compound movements were going up, week after week.
I know you said you are time and equipment limited. I hate to say it, but I think until you can get lots of heavy pushing and pulling in, I don’t think you’ll see much progress. I don’t know how far from your goal of 18” you are, but if it’s more than 1/2”, I do t think you’ll get there with 77.5 pound dumbbells, friend.
U gotta figure out how to get access to a loaded bar. Or a dip and chin station, at least. Hell, You could even do dips between two bar stools holding a dumbbell between your legs.
Thanks for yoir perspective. I won’t be able to have that setup until next year when I build my house with a gym in it. For now, I’ve been focussing on hitting the negatives and doing some cheat lifts with more weight than i can properly do correctly to overload on the negatives. I feel like i am getting results and growing, and definitely getting stronger. A couple days ago, during my workout I measured 18.5. I’ll definitely get myself a setup that allows me to do more heavy compound lifts.
Dude your genetics are incredible for bodybuilding, if you honestly built what I see in that pic with 77.5 pound dumbbells. You had better start a cut and lean out until you can build a home gym, and then attack that iron like a man possessed and eat like a Lion. If you waist those genetics, I will pray that the bodybuilding gods eat your dog.
Haha, I’m actually thinking of starting an aggressive cut October 1 with the plan to be super lean by March of next year. Currently, I’m able to curl 70s for 5-6 reps and then drop the weight by 2.5lb increments and increase by 1 rep for biceps. Would you recommend to lift heavy during my cut, or should I focus more on high reps? Ideally, i don’t want to lose too much muscle mass, but i know it’ll happen. I started doing pushups in between each of my 20 total sets for shoulders/triceps/chest. Last workout, i did 14 between each set and tomorrow I’ll do 15 between each set. What are your thoughts about that? I appreciate your advice.
