Help my arms

[g-funk]

My arms have been 16.5 too long. I do 3 exercises (for bi's n tri's)12 sets total, 10-12 reps. What am I doing wrong? Should I do burns, tri-sets, less reps? Thanks

[beefcake]

I'm not really the best candidate to be answering this since my arms are only 17.5". But I think you're doing too many reps and too many sets. I do three exercises per muscle and 3 sets each with weight that has me failing at 6-8 reps. My arms started at 14's so I feel this is what's helped me.

[Shibby]

Basically what beefcake said. Lower your reps and try cutting out one exercise each for bi's and tri's. I go for failure at 4-6 reps personally.

[shortz]

What exercises are you doing? Big arms are made by dips, close grip bench, skull crushers, Barbell curls, barbell rows and pullups. Rep ranges can vary. Try changing them up. In one session, hit a couple high rep sets, then hit some heavy sets. Always keep your form though.

[Shibby]

Rows shouldn't be done as an arm exercise. Even though they contribute you should make sure and focus on the exercise designed for the muscle. Something else I have noticed from expierence is that alot of newer guys to lifting will try blast there biceps to get big arms. Well if you flex your arm and take a look at how much of it is your bicep, you will see that to get the big arms you need bigger triceps. Of course bi's play a part in it, but you wouldn't try and get big legs by concentrating on your hams would you?

[g-funk]

I do
Biceps---> EZ curl Preacher, Incline Curls, and Hammers
Triceps---> Narrow grip Press, laying extensions and cable pushdowns

[JUICE]

Originally Posted by g-funk

I do
Biceps---> EZ curl Preacher, Incline Curls, and Hammers
Triceps---> Narrow grip Press, laying extensions and cable pushdowns

thats almost the same routine i do form time to time. I do 3 sets of each with 6-10 reps.

I was stuck a while back also around 17.5 for a year or two. I just started eating a bit more, adding more shakes and another meal and I grew. I eventually hit 18 3/4's inches. But i also added some bodyweight/mass in the process.

[shortz]

Originally Posted by Shibby

Rows shouldn't be done as an arm exercise.

I stated what I did to be sure he was doing these exercises as a stable and in general. Not saying they should be done for an arm exercise. It's obvious to us that someone who does cable pushdowns is not going to develope triceps like someone who does bench. Just saying iso stuff is not enough and make sure he is doing this other stuff in his split.

[beefcake]

Originally Posted by g-funk

I do
Biceps---> EZ curl Preacher, Incline Curls, and Hammers
Triceps---> Narrow grip Press, laying extensions and cable pushdowns

I think you need to throw in some mass builders like bb curls or alternate db curls.

[Shibby]

Originally Posted by shortz

I stated what I did to be sure he was doing these exercises as a stable and in general. Not saying they should be done for an arm exercise. It's obvious to us that someone who does cable pushdowns is not going to develope triceps like someone who does bench. Just saying iso stuff is not enough and make sure he is doing this other stuff in his split.

Didn't mean to make it sound like you were wrong. Sorry. Just the way it was stated made it sound like it should be used as an arm exercise and I didn't want him to get confused.

[Slashmonay]

yeah i heard somewhere on this site you need to add 15lbs of muscle to your frame to add an inch to your arms. If your body is growing but your arms arent, i would say you need to work on your arms more.... But dont expect your arms to be the only thing to grow i dont think its possible.

[g-funk]

What r some good mass builders? BB curl done with preacher or free-standing?

[beefcake]

Originally Posted by g-funk

What r some good mass builders? BB curl done with preacher or free-standing?

Both. Standing and preacher. Same with db's.

[Vage]

I would defineatly suggest changing up ur routine. When u do the same exercises for the same reps ur muscles tend to adapt to well and start to hit a little wall. If you switch some old excercises out for some other ones, it should help shock ur muscles into growth very well.

My next tip is start doing about half ur excercises with heavier weight so u get lower reps (5-8) is good to shoot for when going to failure. Find the right weight for u.

My last important tip which has always worked very well and I find very important:

At least on ur "main" heavy sets, the excercise you are most likely to build the most mass off of, always add weight. Im not talking about work up to ur weight i mean for example:

arms day 1: straight bar curls 4x8655 WITH 120 pnds.

The next time u hit ur arms, throw on 21/2s for a total of a 5 pnd increase.

arms day 2: Straight bar curls 4x8655 WITH 125 pnds.

Now when u first do this, u may not be able to get all the reps, but thats fine, just means ur putting maximum pressure on ur muscles and FORCING them to adapt and get bigger. Eventually ull get to a point where ur addading more weight each time, but u can still get the same number of reps which is great. This has always helped me get stronger, and pack on mass.


Try out what u want, lots of good advice on this board. And always remember, everyones different.

[John6]

Is that whole

1-6 reps for strength
8-12 reps for size
15+ reps for endurance

thing bullshit, or is it just really subjective?

[cherrybomb]

Sometimes we get stronger but not bigger. Dan Duchaine called it training the neural pathways. He suggested doing each set of incline db curls with the bench set at a different angle.

[therock]

I have this same problem. My whole body is big and wide but my arm lack bigtime. I just started doing something new and now they feel good, but havent done it long enough to see results. The biggest my arms have been were 16.5 inches. Thats when I was about 210lbs. But every other part was massive except my arms. I am now 197lbs and they are 15.5inches. But thats cause I got sick. Anyways, I used to think that with strength comes size. Boy was I wrong. I used to hit barbell using a little over 100lbs for 4 sets 10reps, preacher db curls using 65lbs each arm 4sets 10reps, and barbell preacher curls with 90-100lbs for my last workout 4sets 10reps. What I noticed then was my strength was there but not the size. I also noticed that I felt most of the burn in my shoulders rather then my biceps. I was under working my biceps and over working my shoulders. My arms did grow but not to its full potential.
I just started this new routine. I no longer use my shoulders what so ever. I focus on working the biceps with low weight to take the shoulders out of it. My routine is as follows. Alt db curls 3sets 10-12reps slow and low weight, bb curls 3sets 10-12reps slow and low aswell, and bb preacher 3sets 8-10reps slow and low weight. Just after the 1st time I did this I felt my biceps have a more pump plus feel like I actually worked them out rather then my shoulders, which I felt nothing in them. I will be trying this out for the next couple of months and see how they grow.

[cherrybomb]

Lots of good advice on this thread. Here's a hint that's good for any body part, ignore Ronnie Coleman's advice on arms as he was probably born with huge guns, ignore Tom Platz on thighs as he was always bottom heavy. Find a guy who needed 3 generations to overcome his bad genetics and find out how he built his worst body part
up.

[therock]

Bump for more response and advice. Also Cherrybomb I agree.

[Travers54]

hey, I'm just curious when you all mention the measurment of you arms are you talking about flexd or relaxed?