Going to cut to the chase here. My arms are lagging, I’m 5 foot 11 but have a 6 foot 5 wingspan.
Diet: It’s on key because strength is improving; shoulders, back, chest, legs, etc. ALL improve EXCEPT arms. Significant improvements too; 40 pounds on bench, 30 pounds on military press, etc.
Training for Arms: Once every 5 days. I rotate between two; one that’s 1-2 exercises, low reps, heavy weight looking to increase intensity every time & one that’s 2-3 exercises, moderate reps, moderate weight looking to increase reps every time.
With long arms like that it’s going to take a very long time to fill them out unfortunately… just keep plugging away with heavier and heavier weights for moderate reps, you’ll need a lot of size all over.
[quote]leaNbig wrote:
Training for Arms: Once every 5 days. I rotate between two; one that’s 1-2 exercises, low reps, heavy weight looking to increase intensity every time & one that’s 2-3 exercises, moderate reps, moderate weight looking to increase reps every time.
The first has 6 sets, second has 8 sets.
Any suggestions?
[/quote]
Well, obviously that’s not working?
Do a search, there are quite a few good arm articles on here. Check out the best exercises outlined in these articles:
Basically, you’re going to need to increase the frequency of arm training. Try hitting them twice a week.
Try bumping it up to 3 or 4 exercises for Triceps and 3 to 4 for biceps. Give your arms a reason to grow.
Scott, you’re absolutely right. It’s just frustrating to see my shoulder width gain two inches, bench gain so much weight(albeit relatively low cause of such long arms). Just trying to find something.
Rocky, I agree it’s not “working”. But I’ve read this site up & down. I’m using something close to a Poliquin protocol. I guess once every 5 days isn’t enough, perhaps once every 3-4 days is more required.
Just to add some more info to help gauge this. I know triceps are 2/3 of the arm, but for me my biceps are ridiculously thin. From the front view, I have girl arms, but from the side view I have normal arms. I’d say the ratio of tricep: bicep mass on my arm is 4:1. Close Grip bench is high compared to my bench. My curl is very low compared to just about everything. I’m trying to make it not so thin from the front view.
[quote]Scott M wrote:
With long arms like that it’s going to take a very long time to fill them out unfortunately… just keep plugging away with heavier and heavier weights for moderate reps, you’ll need a lot of size all over.[/quote]
LOL. I doubt anyone has arms longer than kingbeef and he seems to be doing just fine. Arm length does not change genetics. You either have it or you don’t. Lift heavy, eat to grow and expect about 10-20lbs gained for every inch on your arms.
[quote]leaNbig wrote:
I have been eating to grow, I have been lifting heavy, and in proportion to weight gained and arm growth it’s very off.
Shoulders went from 20.25 to 22.25
Chest went from 38 to 40
Legs went from 18 to 20
Arms went from 12 to …12
Forearms went from 10.25 to 10.75 though
Weight is up 16lbs[/quote]
WTF?
Dude, you have a 40" chest. You probably need to gain 60lbs or more to fill out. How much do you weigh and why do you think big arms come in a package that small?
I think I was 8 the last time my chest was that small.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
You either have it or you don’t. Lift heavy, eat to grow and expect about 10-20lbs gained for every inch on your arms.[/quote]
I was going to say the same, except in my case, it’s closer to 25lbs bodyweight increase per extra inch on the arms
Dude, you have a 40" chest. You probably need to gain 60lbs or more to fill out. How much do you weigh and why do you think big arms come in a package that small?
I think I was 8 the last time my chest was that small.[/quote]
I have small bones man. I weigh 173lbs right now, started at 157lbs.
My ONLY genetic strongpoint is my back. I have a tough time gaining quality weight, losing abdominal fat because of a bad hormonal profile but I know I can improve, just need to be more patient.
[quote]Scott M wrote:
OP you really just need size everywhere… badly. Throw away the tape measure till you gain at least 40 more lbs of mostly lean mass.
[/quote]
That’ll take ages for someone with low testosterone though. When I tried to adopt the more “see food” diet I only put on 20lbs in 5 months and that’s eating about 5200 calories but body fat went up 6%. I’m eating much less now, and have put on 16lbs in 12 or so weeks with body fat staying the same. If you do the math, I should’ve put on about 50lbs in those 5 months, my body frame cannot support much body weight but it can support more than I have right now.
The two points to growth are genetics & diet, anybody with any sort of genetics can be at a low enough body fat and enough muscle mass to look good naked. That’s what I’m trying to achieve. For the past 12 weeks I’ve been progressing great. 16lbs, significant strength, and waist has gone down .25inches.
It’s the cards I’ve been dealt, I’m just looking for tips. I know I’m not the typical lifter here.
[quote]leaNbig wrote:
I have been eating to grow, I have been lifting heavy, and in proportion to weight gained and arm growth it’s very off.
Shoulders went from 20.25 to 22.25
Chest went from 38 to 40
Legs went from 18 to 20
Arms went from 12 to …12
Forearms went from 10.25 to 10.75 though
Weight is up 16lbs[/quote]
When I look back at my old logs at a part where I added 2 inches to my chest, I only added just under half an inch to my arms…so that is not unusual what you described. I was doing arms 3 times a week at that time too (cut it down to twice now though).
Like others have said, focus on overall bodyweight increases/strength before worrying about the “details”. Whatever you do, don’t have the tape measure out every week - you’ll only notice slight ups and downs and in the end, you’ll be discouraged. Get that next 30lbs leanish gains in bodyweight, then focus on the next 10-15lb and so on.
[quote]
When I look back at my old logs at a part where I added 2 inches to my chest, I only added just under half an inch to my arms…so that is not unusual what you described. I was doing arms 3 times a week at that time too (cut it down to twice now though).
Like others have said, focus on overall bodyweight increases/strength before worrying about the “details”. Whatever you do, don’t have the tape measure out every week - you’ll only notice slight ups and downs and in the end, you’ll be discouraged. Get that next 30lbs leanish gains in bodyweight, then focus on the next 10-15lb and so on.[/quote]
True, I’m starting to figure things out on my own in the trial & error method. Like I stated above, I’ve gained more weight(and quality, might I add) going with the slower method as opposed to the see food method.
I’d love to add more pounds, but in the past 1-2 weeks the weight gain has slowed but still been progressing(I think it was just a shock of huge gains cause of poor “cutting” before) and I struggle to add weight EVEN if I grossly overeat. Yet, I gain abdominal fat quicker than Oprah. I’ve NEVER had abdominal definition, until I followed Poliquin’s methods and I got down to about 11-12% body fat but I needed to add weight. I worked in the 13-17% body fat definition area before, and since I have high cortisol levels stomach fat is very present.
When you say you’re lifting “heavy”, what is “heavy”?[/quote]
I know you can’t fathom it, and it’s cause I’m low in definition of this site(tesosterone). I’m 19.
And heavy is relative to me. I started squatting at about 115lbs, now I’m at 195lbs. I know, it’s not much at all, but it’s progress for 12 weeks. Everyone’s got to start somewhere. I do DB Lunges with 42.5lb DB’s too.
Also, one thing you guys should notice is that January of 2009 I was 202lbs @ 30% body fat. So I’m working from that in the last 18-19 months. I’m now 173lbs at 12% body fat.
I have a lot of traits that a lot of people here don’t have. I have to take that to the chin, but I know I can keep trying to get better. Or is it a lost hope?
lol. I tried that already. I gained 20lbs in 4months to hit 183lbs, but I was at 20% body fat.
Now, I’ve done it the cleaner, slower route and went from 157(yes I cut back from 183 to 157) to 173lbs with no change in body fat. My stomach gains fat much faster than the normal “stomach is the last place to go, first place to come” guy, and I’ve had to accept this because of cortisol problems.
You can discredit me for some bad genetic points, but as I’m trying to explain, I’m trying hard.
I know you can’t fathom it, and it’s cause I’m low in definition of this site(tesosterone). I’m 19.
[/quote]
Wait…you have been clinically diagnosed with hypogonadism?[/quote]
No, not that I’ve been aware of at least. I got my blood test work done August of 2009, March of 2010, and just last week.
August of 2009 I was at about 350 ng/dl in tesosterone. I was 165 @ 15% body fat.
March of 2010, I was at about 282 ng/dl in testosterone. I was 183 @ 20% body fat.
June of 2010, I was at 492 ng/dl in testosterone. I was 172lbs @ 11.5% body fat.
I’ve made a commitment to stop stressing, stop giving little things so much detail, etc. One point I’m leaving out is that in ALL of these bloodworks my cortisol levels were tested and they were high(the average person’s morning cortisol level was my night time cortisol level).
