Arm workout just for mass?

[BOHICA]

I have been working on and off for 5 years, but for the last 2 I have been training hard. I have put on 40-45 pounds of pure muscle, and am at 7% bodyfat. I can get everything on my body to grow, except for my arms. I have tried multiple workouts, and stuck with each one for at least a month to see if they stimulate growth, but to no avail. My arms have grown, but that is just because of the weight I have put on, and not from my workouts. If anyone has any workouts that have gained pure mass to their arms, or any tips and tricks I would love to hear them and put them to use. Thanks

[Stonecold54]

Originally posted by BOHICA
I have been working on and off for 5 years, but for the last 2 I have been training hard. I have put on 40-45 pounds of pure muscle, and am at 7% bodyfat. I can get everything on my body to grow, except for my arms. I have tried multiple workouts, and stuck with each one for at least a month to see if they stimulate growth, but to no avail. My arms have grown, but that is just because of the weight I have put on, and not from my workouts. If anyone has any workouts that have gained pure mass to their arms, or any tips and tricks I would love to hear them and put them to use. Thanks

It is hard to just recommend an arm workout without knowing why they are not growing. First it could be genetic. If you look at my pics in the members section you will see I have nice arms, but I have always had the potential to have them. they have always had nice shape even when I was growing up and to top it off so does my dad, so I know where I got them. same with my calves (though I have had to work harder at those). Most times a lot of guys arms don't grow because they are overworked. the arms and the shoulders are involved in almost ever upperbody exercise that you do. Local overtraining can happen very fast. there is also the issue of fiber type. if you arms are mostly slow-twitch fibers than you will have a tough time getting much growth at all out of them. but if they are fast-twitch then you have growth potential but they also have a greater potential to be overtrained. so first I would look at your overall workout. if you are doing a lot of set for your upperbody (chest, shoulders, back). then I would back off completely on your arm training and give them a rest. OR you could minimize your torso exercises and focus or 1 to 2 really intense sets for biceps and triceps. I don't believe the exercises matter as much as the form used.

[Timma]

One thing that i was taught to do is when you are doing biceps, cock your wrist down so that your palm is perpendicular to your forearm. You will notice a big difference. What this does is it will define the lower part of your bicep giving more definition. Try it. It will definitely work.

[meat12]

Originally posted by stonecold54
It is hard to just recommend an arm workout without knowing why they are not growing. First it could be genetic. If you look at my pics in the members section you will see I have nice arms, but I have always had the potential to have them. they have always had nice shape even when I was growing up and to top it off so does my dad, so I know where I got them. same with my calves (though I have had to work harder at those). Most times a lot of guys arms don't grow because they are overworked. the arms and the shoulders are involved in almost ever upperbody exercise that you do. Local overtraining can happen very fast. there is also the issue of fiber type. if you arms are mostly slow-twitch fibers than you will have a tough time getting much growth at all out of them. but if they are fast-twitch then you have growth potential but they also have a greater potential to be overtrained. so first I would look at your overall workout. if you are doing a lot of set for your upperbody (chest, shoulders, back). then I would back off completely on your arm training and give them a rest. OR you could minimize your torso exercises and focus or 1 to 2 really intense sets for biceps and triceps. I don't believe the exercises matter as much as the form used.

wow great reply man, very nice

[Stonecold54]

Originally posted by meat12
wow great reply man, very nice

thanks, I do what I can.

[pudgy]

my biceps are long and just wont grow in a way other than to get sronger and a little bigger and fuller. the only good growth spurt i ever got was doing 21's for a month once a week.

[meat12]

Yeah 21's work good, try doing reverse curl 21's those kill

[Wolverine]

Let me suggest a routine from Pavel Tstatouline, known as "Evil Russian." He writes for Muscle Media & well known fitness trainer. He suggests the following routine:

Workout A: Mondays 1. E-Z bar Lying French Press - 3X6
2. Incline Dumbell Curls - 3X6
3. Close Grip Bench Press - 3X6
4. Barbell Curls - 3X6

Workout B: Thursdays 1. Barbell Curls 3X6
2. Close Grip Bench Press 3X6
3. Incline Dumbell Curls 3X6
4. Ez Bar Lying French Press 3X6

Try this! You can do this following chest routine Monday & Back Routine Thursday. He recommends on Tuesdays & Fridays Squats . Also Charles Poloquin's book Winning The Arms Race is an excellent source. When I was doing that routine, although I did not finish it. I had guys asking me if I was juiced. Answer was no! All natural w/proper diet & protein.

[Stonecold54]

Originally posted by Wolverine
Let me suggest a routine from Pavel Tstatouline, known as "Evil Russian." He writes for Muscle Media & well known fitness trainer. He suggests the following routine:

Workout A: Mondays 1. E-Z bar Lying French Press - 3X6
2. Incline Dumbell Curls - 3X6
3. Close Grip Bench Press - 3X6
4. Barbell Curls - 3X6

Workout B: Thursdays 1. Barbell Curls 3X6
2. Close Grip Bench Press 3X6
3. Incline Dumbell Curls 3X6
4. Ez Bar Lying French Press 3X6

Try this! You can do this following chest routine Monday & Back Routine Thursday. He recommends on Tuesdays & Fridays Squats . Also Charles Poloquin's book Winning The Arms Race is an excellent source. When I was doing that routine, although I did not finish it. I had guys asking me if I was juiced. Answer was no! All natural w/proper diet & protein.

too much. If you are doing proper sets then it should be damn near impossible to complete that many sets. exercise should be brief and intense. you are only trying to stimulate your muscle to grow. that means going in the gym doing one or two hard, intense sets and getting the heck out to go home eat and grow.

[BOHICA]

What are 21's, I think I know but someone fill me in? Thanks for the replies.

[Stonecold54]

Originally posted by BOHICA
What are 21's, I think I know but someone fill me in? Thanks for the replies.

7 of the bottom 1/2 of the curl, 7 of the top half and then 7 in they full range. God knows why they picked 7 and not 5 or 8. LOL

[BOHICA]

Originally posted by stonecold54
7 of the bottom 1/2 of the curl, 7 of the top half and then 7 in they full range. God knows why they picked 7 and not 5 or 8. LOL

How many sets of that should I do to fully blow out my arms if I'm going to be doing them once a week off 2 days rest before and 2 days rest after?

[Stonecold54]

that is a very general question. but as a guideline I would only two 2 or 3 sets to failure for the bicep and triceps.

[BOHICA]

Some pictures are posted of me, if that helps on the members picture section. I don't want to sound desperate, but I'm just trying to give some info to help someone come up with a resolution.

My biceps workout was combined with chest, and I would do:
EZ bar curls 3x8
Alternate DB curls 3x10-8
Preacher Curls 3x8-6

My triceps workout was combined with back, and I would do:
Dips 3x15-20 (Dips have always been easy for me so I have to increase the reps)
French Press 3x12-8
Straight Bar Cable Pulldowns 3x10-8

Critique Please!!

[meat12]

Yeah 2-3 sets should be good enough

[JUICE]

hey Stonecold, about 2-3 intense sets u mean doing a warm up of course but going super slow and really feeling the muscle burn u mean. for 2-3 sets. Lets say im doing dumbell curls, i do a warm up set light, and then do my 3 sets. But those have to be intense as in slow and feeling the effect of the exercise, the burning sensation. (i do triceps on chest days)(biceps on back days).
Cause what i was doing for arms was this:

ez curl: 3 sets
incline curls: 3 sets
reverse curls: 3 sets

Ive gotten alot of size due to these exercises but all of a sudden gains stopped. I once reached 19"inches last August, now at 18".

Also, how long should the duration for the arms (biceps)workout be. I usually take 30 minutes doing those 9 sets. How long do u usually train them for bro?

[BOHICA]

What do you do for your triceps Juice?

[Stonecold54]

Originally posted by JUICE
hey Stonecold, about 2-3 intense sets u mean doing a warm up of course but going super slow and really feeling the muscle burn u mean. for 2-3 sets. Lets say im doing dumbell curls, i do a warm up set light, and then do my 3 sets. But those have to be intense as in slow and feeling the effect of the exercise, the burning sensation. (i do triceps on chest days)(biceps on back days).
Cause what i was doing for arms was this:

ez curl: 3 sets
incline curls: 3 sets
reverse curls: 3 sets

Ive gotten alot of size due to these exercises but all of a sudden gains stopped. I once reached 19"inches last August, now at 18".

Also, how long should the duration for the arms (biceps)workout be. I usually take 30 minutes doing those 9 sets. How long do u usually train them for bro?

a lot of people aren't understanding what I am talking about. when I say 2-3 sets total. I mean only 2-3 sets. for an example. I don't use a warmup set for biceps because I do my back before them and they are plenty warmup because they are involved in every back movement. My workout for biceps is ONE set of Barbell curls with a Time under tension between 45 sec and 1 min and then I will do one set of hammer curls. both sets are to momentary muscular and voluntary failure. the cadence is slow. Not like superslow but there is not jerking twitching swaying or momentum involved. that means my bicep workout is about 3 minutes long and i do this every two weeks. a lot of people tell me its not enough but all you have to do is look at some of my picutres to understand that that is what is best for me.

[JUICE]

Originally posted by BOHICA
What do you do for your triceps Juice?

i have 2 different workouts for them.

I do this first:

close bench presses: 3 sets

kick backs: 3 sets

dips: 3 sets till failure


and within 4-6 weeks later i do this:

overhead extensions: 3 sets

scullcrushers: 3 sets

dips: 3 sets

[ktw1802]

BOHICA:
judging by your pictures your biceps seem to be okay, however your shoulders and triceps need some work. I was 5'8 110 pounds when I started lifting at age 16 now at 20 I am up to 180lbs. So I can remember when I used to have twigs for arms. Now my arms are probably my best muscle. You look to be around 6'0 and taller people seem to have more trouble building your arms so that could be a problem with you. I can remember though what first brought my arms into their own. It wasn't anything but basic exercises back when I first started lifting. For arms, I used to do 3x10 of bench bress, millitary press, and e-z bar curls twice a week. Also I would do 3x50 of push ups and 3x10 pull ups three times a week. After 1 year I went from 110 to 150 and gained 3.5 inches on my arms (at this time I was natural) but let's also remember this was the first time I ever weight trained and I was stuck at 150 up until recently. But if I were you I would do as I did and go back to the basics for a month (maybe throw in some lying french curls and some lateral raises in their too) and see if you can shock things up for the muscle. Then after that go back to a normal arm routine. You'd be amazed at what just push-ups and pull-ups can do for your arms.