I have really long arms. My wing span is 6’7" while I am 6’2". My biceps measure 14.75" and have not really been growing much lately. I’ve been training for almost a year now and have gained almost 3 inches in this area. I can do 3 sets of 10 for a standing curl with a 90-lb easy bar.
My goal is to get 16" biceps.
How much weight should I attempt to set my goal at to get the inches I want?
Now, if you’re talking bodyweight, I could agree, that is one thing you might want to focus on. If you’re talking about the weight you are curling, you might be overlooking some aspects of hypertrophy.
Firstly, arm size is largely related to overall weight, so gaining mass in all areas will certainly not hurt you biceps. Second, you can progress in other ways besides weight lifted. You could start doing drop sets, supersets, cluster sets, you could shorten rest intervals, improve form, concentrate on the squeeze, do negative training, etc.
Any of these might help in you hypertrophy more than adding weight, alone. Switch things up.
do lots of chin ups and heavy deadlifts…
I think that is crappy advice, midnightamnesia. Really, really crappy.
Let’s say the OP is curling 90lbs right now, and after a year he can curl 180lbs. Do you know anyone that can curl 180lbs that has small biceps?
Now how many people do you know that can’t curl more than 90lbs (if that), yet do burnout sets, cluster sets, drop sets, and 21s for their biceps?
You really believe someone can take their biceps from 14 inches to 16 inches without gaining any strength in them?
Come on man. Get your head on straight.
To the OP: Nobody can tell you what you will need to be curling EXACTLY in order to have 16 inch biceps.
But in general, if you double the weight you can handle, you will double the results as long as the training is coupled with a sensible weight gaining diet.
Just don’t neglect your other bodyparts.
Having long arms does suck… haha
[quote]djwhizkid wrote:
do lots of chin ups and heavy deadlifts…[/quote]
Again… what the fuck people.
What the fuck.
are you suggesting that he keeps adding weight to his curling bar to add size to his arms?
I am 6’0 and my wingspan is 6’4 and I have slightly larger than 17 inch biceps at this moment. So stop whining.
Oh, and deadlifting is my best lift. The long arms help for that.
[quote]midnightamnesia wrote:
Second, you can progress in other ways besides weight lifted. You could start doing drop sets, supersets, cluster sets, you could shorten rest intervals, improve form, concentrate on the squeeze, do negative training, etc. Any of these might help in you hypertrophy more than adding weight, alone. Switch things up.[/quote]
I suppose my confusion lies when to begin doing such techniques. The stronger you are usually allows greater weight to be used on all techniques. Doing any of those techniques with more weight should yield better gains.
I see quite a few guys doing such techniques with weight that I expect would be easy. They are all short with proportionally shorter arms, which is my explanation for why it works for them.
I was planning on switching it up when I can do 3 sets of 10 reps with 115. Is this consistent with your knowledge on hypertyophy?
[quote]mr popular wrote:
To the OP: Nobody can tell you what you will need to be curling EXACTLY in order to have 16 inch biceps.
But in general, if you double the weight you can handle, you will double the results as long as the training is coupled with a sensible weight gaining diet.
/quote]
My primary purpose is to figure out a general range that is needed not the EXACT wieght. You know it’s pretty hard to do with 3 sets of 10 reps with 180 lbs, right?
I expect there is some point where I should start on the techniques suggested by another poster but I agree with you that an increase in strength will lead to the desired results. However, there is a point where drop or cluster sets might become more efficient. For example, it is much harder to go from curling 150 to curling 160 than from 90 to 100.
[quote]MasterfulStroke wrote:
I am 6’0 and my wingspan is 6’4 and I have slightly larger than 17 inch biceps at this moment. So stop whining.
Oh, and deadlifting is my best lift. The long arms help for that.[/quote]
I had 16.5" biceps 3 months ago but after losing 7% body fat I’m stuck on 14.75".
don’t listen to mr popular… he’s a fucking retard. you’re going to have to gain overall body weight at the same BF% to get what you want. That means you’re going to need to eat more than maintenance, adding calories here and there whenever you feel you need it. keep it clean, tho.
then just work out, EVERYTHING and just put an emphasis on bi’s and tri’s… sure, getting stronger helps, and using various techniques help too. jesus is this so hard?
Has anyone read the Ulitimate Guide to Massive Arms book in the T-Nation store? Anyone willing to recommend it?
[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
are you suggesting that he keeps adding weight to his curling bar to add size to his arms?[/quote]
To put it simply…
yes.
[quote]daneq wrote:
don’t listen to mr popular… he’s a fucking retard. you’re going to have to gain overall body weight at the same BF% to get what you want. That means you’re going to need to eat more than maintenance, adding calories here and there whenever you feel you need it. keep it clean, tho. then just work out, EVERYTHING and just put an emphasis on bi’s and tri’s… sure, getting stronger helps, and using various techniques help too. jesus is this so hard? [/quote]
Did I say anything different from what you’ve said here?
"…as long as the training is coupled with a sensible weight gaining diet.
Just don’t neglect your other bodyparts."
What exactly are you disagreeing with here?
And getting stronger doesn’t “help”, it is the whole point. Do you truly believe that if the OP can curl 90lbs now, and he goes buckwild with drop sets and burnout sets for his biceps, yet 6 months later he can still only curl 90lbs, that his biceps are going to be significantly bigger?
This is a topic I’m glad came up because my arms are pretty long. I’m 6’0 and have about a 6’4 wingspan and it makes it a little tougher to lift do things such as shoulder presses and things along those lines.
Although my long arms have come in handy when I was boxing!
Don’t complain about what you can’t change.
Eat my ass. I’m 5’9 and I would kill you slowly to be 6’2.
[quote]mr popular wrote:
I think that is crappy advice, midnightamnesia. Really, really crappy.
Let’s say the OP is curling 90lbs right now, and after a year he can curl 180lbs. Do you know anyone that can curl 180lbs that has small biceps?
Now how many people do you know that can’t curl more than 90lbs (if that), yet do burnout sets, cluster sets, drop sets, and 21s for their biceps?
You really believe someone can take their biceps from 14 inches to 16 inches without gaining any strength in them?
Come on man. Get your head on straight.
To the OP: Nobody can tell you what you will need to be curling EXACTLY in order to have 16 inch biceps.
But in general, if you double the weight you can handle, you will double the results as long as the training is coupled with a sensible weight gaining diet. [/quote]
Mr Popular…you’re a jerk off. Midnightamnesia never told OP to not increase his weight but rather try different intensity techniques. INCREASING WEIGHT ISN’T THE ONLY WAY TO GET RESULTS.
As midnightamnesia said, take a look at your program as a whole: meal plan, total exercise selection, and rest. You can figure about 10-15 pounds body weight to gain an inch on your arms.
[quote]wicked08 wrote:
INCREASING WEIGHT ISN’T THE ONLY WAY TO GET RESULTS.
[/quote]
thank you.
[quote]joburnet wrote:
Eat my ass. I’m 5’9 and I would kill you slowly to be 6’2.[/quote]
But if you’re done growing you’ll never be 6’2, so why would you waste your time fathoming what could have been when you could be doing more productive shit w/ your time.
[quote]daneq wrote:
wicked08 wrote:
INCREASING WEIGHT ISN’T THE ONLY WAY TO GET RESULTS.
thank you.
[/quote]
I think getting stronger is generally accepted as the best way to build muscle. Sure, fruitysets can help, but the main idea behind those is to make you stronger. As mr popular said, if this guy does whatever you’re recommending, but is still only using the same weight in six months, his arms are going to be the same size.
But yeah mr popular, you’re a real meanyhead.