[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
I still stand by my opinion. I must totally contradict the impression one can grow his biceps well through chins/pullups.
I can do lots of this exercise and my biceps sucks ass. I incorporated direct biceps work only recently and voila! It grows.[/quote]
I do chins/pullups and voila! My biceps grow. Go figure.
So all you can claim is that you and “lots” of buddies of yours have more success with direct work. Others have success with chins/pullups.
That is all irrelevant in this case because the guy said he won’t have a gym for 2 weeks–not that he’s giving up weights for bodyweight work forever.
That has nothing to do with chins/pullups. It has to do with body composition. Skinny guys are lighter and tend to be able to do more pullups. Hence, you think that they have better definition. In fact, they just have lower bf to begin with.
This also tends to be related to bf %. Though I suppose it is possible that chins/pullups promote more vascdularization or somesuch. But I really don’t think that is the case.
Except for all those guys that chin and do pullups and have really big arms.
[quote]rg73 wrote:
Schwarzfahrer wrote:
I still stand by my opinion. I must totally contradict the impression one can grow his biceps well through chins/pullups.
I can do lots of this exercise and my biceps sucks ass. I incorporated direct biceps work only recently and voila! It grows.
I do chins/pullups and voila! My biceps grow. Go figure.
Same with lots of sportsbuddies.
So all you can claim is that you and “lots” of buddies of yours have more success with direct work. Others have success with chins/pullups.
That is all irrelevant in this case because the guy said he won’t have a gym for 2 weeks–not that he’s giving up weights for bodyweight work forever.
The able chinners tend to have better definition
That has nothing to do with chins/pullups. It has to do with body composition. Skinny guys are lighter and tend to be able to do more pullups. Hence, you think that they have better definition. In fact, they just have lower bf to begin with.
and impressive veins,
This also tends to be related to bf %. Though I suppose it is possible that chins/pullups promote more vascdularization or somesuch. But I really don’t think that is the case.
but that’s about all what is impressive about their arms.
Except for all those guys that chin and do pullups and have really big arms. [/quote]
Jeezus, take it easy.
First of all: yes the biceps can grow through chins, but I find it unlikely.
Some people can grow their neck through lots of pushups, but I wouldn’t recommend to try to emulate this. And while the chin is of course a lot better in making your biceps grow, it’s still not as good as good ol’ curling.
This is now purely anecdotical proof but ask yourselves: How many guys you know who have build their biceps through curls? A lot, I suppose.
As for my examples.
Definition has to do with bodyfat. That is Bodybuilding 101. Did I say something different?
What I wanted to say is that because “chinners” in general have a better definition it may look as if they had a bigger biceps. And with “chinners” I mean the whole folk (military guys, martial artists etc.) which is into bodyweight exercises. Just my observation.
I’ll try it from a different perspective.
The biceps is not very large or powerful.
When chinning, you work with DOZENS of muscles through direct (for example:lattisimus dorsi, biggest muscle on yer bod) or indirect(for example: abdominals, if you have some tension in you). Why you can mostly target the biceps is beyond me. Combining both exercises (chin and curl) seems to be a smart move on the other hand.
I know that most people here on T-Nation see it differently, yet why do they curl at all when chins are superiour? The curl is THE best known exercise around the world. If someone’s imitating a bodybuilder, he just has to make this gesture and everyone will figure it out. While I find that the curl is not a great exercise because of various reasons it still is THE biceps exercise<
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
Jeezus, take it easy.[/quote]
The dude abides. Believe me, I am taking it easy.
I find the existence of the universe unlikely, and yet, here we are. If I am eating right my arms get bigger even if I am not doing bicep isolation work. Other people have experienced the same phenomena. There isn’t anything really strange about it.
I fail to see where this is relevant. No one was debating that point.
The OP asked what he can do for two weeks without access to weights for arm work. No one claimed that curls were totally useless. The guy asked if chins and pullups (while he couldn’t lift at a gym) would help with hypertrophy. The answer is, yes (assuming he’s eating right). Would he do better with indirect AND direct bicep work, yes. But that wasn’t the question.
I guess. I don’t really talk to the curling crowd at my gym much. I notice their arms do tend to get bigger, but they have stick legs and no shoulders or back. But yeah, I guess they have some guns. Woot.
[quote]As for my examples.
Definition has to do with bodyfat. That is Bodybuilding 101. Did I say something different?[/quote]
You sort of did or I wouldn’t have brought it up.
I didn’t know there was a “whole folk” into bodyweight exercises. Here I was thinking that everyone incorporated them into their normal routine. Silly me.
Your argument goes for guys who do curls exclusively too. Like at my gym. Skinny dudes doing a ton of curls. And they get kind of defined arms and it sort of looks like they have some muscles to the girls or something.
The fact is that most people don’t really have impressive arms. But guys who lift seriously, smart, hard and heavy tend to have big, impressive arms. That includes powerlifters who don’t ever curl or chin. They still seem to have big arms for the most part. Go figure. Sure, a bodybuilder doing a lot of isolation work is going to have bigger, better biceps. No argument from me.
No need, we get it. Curling is good for you. Got it.
In most people.
I never said I could mostly target my biceps. But if my biceps are doing work, they grow. Pretty simple.
No one ever argued otherwise. Again, the guy asked if he could build biceps doing chins/pullups for 2 weeks while he didn’t have gym access. It wasn’t one or the other. It was a make due with a situation.
I guess. I work curls in a couple times a month maybe. My arms aren’t really suffering.
Is it really?
Does this happen a lot?
Or they might run away from you because you’re acting strange.
Sure it is. I don’t know who you are trying to convince since that wasn’t the whole point of this thread.
Can you get bigger arms doing no direct arm work? Yes.
Can this original poster get bigger arms in 2 weeks without access to a gym doing chins and pull ups? Possibly (depends on diet and how long he’s been training and the volume of work, the amount of rest and other variables).
Will you get even bigger arms doing indirect and direct arm work? Yes.
in my own personal experience, which by the way, i think is the only thing that any of us can use that is valid…it can be done with either heavy back work or direct arm work. i think that most people that cant get something to grow are forgetting the all important “progressive overload” if you constantly are doing 3 sets of 8 or 5 sets of 243 or whatever the hell…youre only going to progress so far.
its common sense, if you dont overload it, then your body isnt going to go past the point that it has already adapted to handle THAT load. thats why were not all still curling the 20lb dumbells expecting to keep growing…pull-ups have to be progressed the same way, but i think some people wont progress them in the same way because lets face it, a bicep curl is easier than a pullup, and therefore its easier to go up 5-10lbs in a barbell curl than it is to say add 2-3 reps per set of pullups.
people who don’t do heavy upper body presses and heavy upper body pulls usually have weak little string-bean arms if they depends on curls and tricep kickbacks.
on the other hand, most T-Nation fanboys who are anti-anything that can be labelled as an isolation movement also have string-bean 15-16 inch arms.
moral of this story: do your heavy compound lifts and work in your direct upper arm work where applicable if you want big impressive strong arms.